Midsummer Dreams
by Trish
Summary: FINISHED! No I haven't been dead just busy. It's one year since I started at It's the 21st for me...in Australia and to celebrate here is the final chapter of Dreams. Enjoy
1. Prologue -

**__**

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. I don't own Puck or any Shakespearean quotes - they belong to William Shakespeare. I do own Callie and the rights to this series.

__

A/N: This is the sequel to my Pokéspeare fic "Midsummer Madness". YOU MUST READ THAT FIRST - OTHERWISE THIS WILL NOT MAKE SENSE. This is a light-hearted, slightly insane fic in which I mess with the characters (again). Not to be taken too seriously. This takes place two years after the events of "Madness" so Ash & Misty are both 26. Oh yeah - and look for small cameo appearances from some of my pals and fellow FF.Net authors. And me, of course. Can't just let you peeps have all the fun - and you know who you all are too….. ^_^

__

Prologue: Something is happening in the Stadium of Indigo Plateau

The small town of Indigo Plateau was bursting with curiosity. For the past few days, there had been a steady stream of traffic and people passing through to the international headquarters of the renowned Pokémon League down the road. This, was not unusual of course, as Indigo Stadium was the venue for both the Indigo League and Pokémon Master competitions. However, what _was _unusual was that this was taking place in July, in the middle of summer. 

Summer was the traditional off-season for the major Leagues - Indigo, Orange and Johto. The competitions were always scheduled to take place in the cooler months of the year - Indigo was held in April, Johto in May, Indigo in September, and the Masters Competition was held in October. Summer was when the Gyms were allowed to close down and the Leaders to take their annual holidays, allowing those with families to spend the summer vacation with their kids. The Headquarters was pretty much deserted at this time of year, with only a skeleton staff to handle any trainer enquiries.

But, for the past week, there had been a constant coming and going of large trucks, construction equipment, and official cars down that very road. Loud noises coming from the Stadium indicated that some major construction work was going on. The Headquarters seemed to be a hive of activity with more staff than was normal for this time of year. The local hotels, motels and inns were experiencing a sudden increase in the number of bookings over the coming weeks. The townsfolk noticed that the League's small fleet of private jets were constantly on the move. They knew that these planes were for the exclusive use of the President, the Committee, the Grand Master, the Elite Four, League Champions and the leaders of the Orange and Johto Leagues. What in the world was going on?

The Stadium bustled with frenzied activity, so no one noticed a small boy with his pet Mareep walk through the huge gates and pause at the entrance to the general stands. "Joe, what are you doing? You know we're not supposed to be here!" a voice cried out. The boy, Joe, turned to see his older brother Chris run up to him. 

"I just wanna have a look," Joe tried to explain, but his nine year old brother wouldn't let him.

"The sign said that only special people are allowed in here for the time being."

"But I'm a special person! Mummy said so last night."

"Not that type of special. Anyway, you shouldn't be so curious. Curiosity killed the cat you know."

Joe looked confused. "But I'm not a cat!" Chris sighed. He didn't know why he bothered to explain things - his brother was only five years old after all. Might as well have a look while they were here.

Wooden floor boards covered the whole field to protect the battle area from any damage. Huge white marquees were being erected over them, the sea of canvas stretching from one end of the stadium to another. Large stalls were being set up in rows and different coloured banners were being strung up. Workers were scurrying to and fro with poles, boards, machines, equipment and sign boards. The two boys stood in awe, until at last Joe spoke up, "Is there gonna be a fun fair on here?"

"Not exactly," came a voice from behind them. They swung around to see a dark-haired young man leaning against the opposite wall. The man looked to be in his mid twenties, and was dressed casually in a black t-shirt and blue jeans and sun glasses. A laminated pass swung from a long chain around his neck, and Chris guessed that this man was one of those 'special' people allowed on the site. The man smiled. "What's going to happen here is something that the League's never done before. A Pokémon League Convention and Conference set to last for two weeks. It's gonna be huge - all Gym Leaders from the three major Leagues will be there - Indigo, Orange and Johto. The Elite Four, the League Champions and the Pokémon Masters will all be there. Plus the top scientists, breeders, you name it - they'll be there. Anyone can come - it's open to the general public. You might see your favourite trainer there and ask them for a few tips."

"Wow!" the two boys exclaimed. "Sounds great!"

"It does, doesn't it?" Their new acquaintance agreed. The Mareep, which had been sitting quietly at Joe's feet, got up and trotted over to the stranger. The man grinned and knelt down to the Pokémon before putting his hand on it's fleece.

"Uh, sir, I wouldn't do that if I were you," Chris said hurriedly. "He might…."

"Shock me?" the stranger finished for him. He chuckled, "Don't worry about me. I'm used to Electric Pokémon." He proceeded to stroke the soft wool, and the Mareep bleated in contentment. "What's his name?"

"Rambo, sir" Joe piped up.

"Rambo eh? Well, Rambo, buddy," the man addressed the sheep, "One day you might evolve into Flaaffy and then into Ampharos. Perhaps you can meet my Ampharos at the convention." The two boys giggled as Rambo answered him with a single "baaaa".

The stranger stood back up and stretched. "That's a very nice Mareep you've got there, kids. You've done an excellent job of raising it."

"Thank you, sir."

A shout from behind startled them, "I've finally found you!" The two boys watched as a purple-haired man rushed up to their new friend. "Professor Oak's on the phone for you, Ash," he managed to gasp.

Chris's jaw dropped. Ash? As in Ash Ketchum? The Pokémon Grand Master? They had been chatting to _him_? And he had praised their Mareep too!

Ash noticed his expression and grinned. "Yeah, it's me. And the guy who just blew my cover is my personal assistant/public relations spokesman, James." James gave them a goofy smile.

Ash shook each boy's hand. "Nice meeting you two. I hope to see you at the Convention next week," he said before he walked off with James.

The two boys stood there, speechless. Then Joe said the one word which summed up their feelings, "Cool."

The next day, the workers had finished setting up the Stadium. All that needed to be done now was to prepare for the arrival of the various Gym Leaders and the members of the public who would be attending the event. And so they came, in ever increasing numbers until they were all there. For the next fortnight all would be gathered in the one place, under the giant marquees of Indigo Stadium. It would be perfect.

It would be the perfect opportunity for anyone with a mischievous sense of humour to wreak havoc. Especially if that someone could work magic……

__

A/N: You peeps wanted a sequel - you got it! This is a romantic comedy - so please do not take everything that happens seriously. I know that the name for the Mareep is rather feeble - but hey - that's what I named one of my Mareep in Gold. My Ampharos is called "Lamb Chops" ^_^ . Read & Review Peeps! Flamers will be fed to my Tassie Devils. 

One more thing. Please do not tell me in the review that the thing you disliked about the story is my portrayal of Pikachu as a female because Pikachu is a male. Pikachu has never been referred to in the show as any gender other than "it" and I am not going by the magna. This is my story and so my view that Pikachu is female stays. We are all entitled to our own opinions. We should respect that right. We are also entitled to disagree with other opinions. We should also respect that right. But we should **never** flame an author just because we dislike his/her opinions on a certain character. Please review a story for the story's sake and not the characterisations. Thank you.


	2. Chapter One:

__

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

A/N: I don't own Pokémon. I don't own Puck - Mr. Bill Shakespeare does. I do own this story. Plus the Pokémon's speech will be in italics.

__

Chapter One: He's Baaaaaaack!/ Vignettes (Okay - so I can't always find a suitable Shakespearean Quote to twist)

The first golden rays of sunlight peeped over the hills and slowly spread over the lovely little valley that lay beneath Indigo Plateau. Lush leafy forests began to come to life as its various inhabitants stirred at the coming of a new day. Pidgeys cooed good morning as a lone female Teddiursa snuffled around in search of a breakfast of honey.

A family of Furrets were feasting on a hoard of berries when they were startled by a sudden flash of light. The creatures dived for cover, and peered out from their hiding spot. There lay on a ground a tiny figure. It didn't move, so the male Furret crept out of hiding to investigate. He approached the "thing" and sniffed. It looked like a human and yet didn't smell quite like a human. The Pokémon knew that humans were never _that_ small and that they also did not have wings like this creature had.

Puck stirred and looked up to see two _huge_ brown eyes looking at him. "Gaaaaaaaaaaah!" he shrieked as he scrambled backwards until he hit a log. He saw a long brown creature that looked like a weasel, only much cuter, sitting in front of him. "What in heaven's name are YOU?" he gasped.

__

"I'm a Pokémon. A Furret to be exact", the creature answered. "_I could ask you the same thing - what are **you**_?"

"I'm a fairy or sprite if you like. My name's Puck." As he introduced himself, Puck felt a sense of dejá vu come over him. The creature had said he was a Pokémon. Pokémon. Where had he come across that name before? Ah yes, Puck had met creatures like this two years before, when he came into the Pokémon world by accident. He had messed up a spell and ended up in a world where hundreds of marvellous creatures called Pokémon existed side by side with humans. He had lots of fun creating havoc with some humans too. So….he must have uttered the same spell - because here he was again.

"My Good Sir," Puck addressed the Furret. "Could you direct me to where any humans are, please?"

The Furret nodded. "_Sure. Follow me_." The Pokémon scampered through the forest until they reached a road. "_See this road? This road leads to what the humans call Indigo Plateau. The Pidgeys say there are some huge buildings there. That's where the humans are."_

Puck thanked the creature and started to fly along the road. To where the humans were. To where the _fun_ was.

***************************

Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak stood together on the side of the stage as President Goodshow finished his spiel to declare the first annual International Pokémon League Convention open. Ash knew that Gary felt as apprehensive about this event as he was. They had every reason to be.

For this Convention was the brainchild of the two best friends and former rivals from Pallet. They had often discussed how much easier it would be for people if they could gain all the information they needed about Pokémon and the Pokémon Leagues from the one place at the one time. So they came up with the idea of holding a convention with all the major League competitions represented - Indigo, Orange, Johto and the Master League. The world's top Pokémon scientists, watchers, breeders, doctors, nurses and rangers would also be invited. Major corporations, like Silph Company, that invested in the Pokémon industry would likewise be there. In short, everyone that had anything to do with Pokémon would be brought together under the one roof, so to speak. The Convention would be held for a set period of time so that as many people as possible could attend. 

The League embraced their idea with enthusiasm and the preparations for the convention went ahead. It was found that the ideal time to gather all the Gym Leaders from the different Leagues in the one place was during the off-season in the summer months. The logistics involved in organising such a large event was mind boggling to say the least. But at long last, here they were as the President declared the Convention open to the public.

The massive crowds outside the Stadium cheered as the ribbon was cut, and the first members of the public began pouring into the structure. The two Masters turned to each other to see an identical look of relief mirrored on the other's face. "Well," Gary began. "There's nothing we can do now except hope it turns out okay." 

"Yeah." Ash nodded his agreement as they came down off the platform to be greet by his mother and stepfather, Professor Oak, Jessie, James, Meowth and Pikachu.

"That was a wonderful speech, sweetie!" Delia smiled as she crushed her only child in a bear hug. "I'm _so_ proud of my little baby!"

"_MOM_!" Ash wailed as soon as he could breathe. "Would you stop embarrassing me in public? I'm not a little baby any more! I'm twenty-six for crying out loud."

His mother loosened her grip a bit. "I know that, dear. But it seems like only yesterday when you were brought home from the hospital." She released him and clasped her hands together as her eyes began to mist over. "You were just the cutest, sweetest, little baby! My little pumpkin was _so_ adorable!"

Ash went bright red and glared at Gary who snickered with laughter - until Delia grabbed _him_ in a great big hug. "And Gary! That was a wonderful speech as well! Little Gawwy-kins was such a cutie as a baby too," she gushed.

"_Gawwy-kins_?" was the collective response from the former Team Rocket. Now it was Gary's turn to squirm in embarrassment as Ash smirked at his friend's discomfort.

"Yes. Gary had trouble pronouncing the 'r' in his name when he was little," Professor Oak spoke up with a grin. "So he always said that his name was 'Gawwy'."

"_GRAMPS!" _Gary wailed. "You're embarrassing me as well!"

The two young men then glared at Meowth and Pikachu who had collapsed on each other from laughing too much.

"It must be a universal rule among mothers and grandparents to embarrass their offspring," Ash's stepfather Steven quipped. "_My_ mother still calls _me _her little 'baby boy' and my grandparents used to dig up all these embarrassing stories about me when I was little." He draped a friendly arm over the two boys' shoulders, "So remember boys, you are not alone in this."

Ash grinned at the older man. In his opinion, his mother's marriage last summer to tall, handsome, dark-haired Steven Taylor was the best thing to have happened to her in a long, long time. This was the second marriage for both of them - the Silph Company executive had lost his wife and son in a car accident ten years ago. His mother radiated with happiness - the last time that Ash could remember her being this happy was before his father had died.

Ash was on the best of terms with his mother's new spouse. They had hit it off right from the start, soon after Steven had become like a big brother/father figure to the young trainer. Someone to talk to, and someone that would give him _sensible_ advice on dealing with women, unlike Brock. When they had announced their engagement, Ash had no hesitations in calling him "Dad".

"Looks like this Convention's going to be a huge success," Steven continued. "You two boys should be proud of yourselves. I wouldn't worry about it any more. Nothing bad is gonna happen."

__

I hope you're right, Ash thought silently. He waved as his parents and the Professor moved off into the crowd. 

There was a moment's silence until Gary spoke up. "Y'know Ash, even though I regard your mother as a second mom, there are times when she can be….."

"Really embarrassing? Tell me about it, " Ash finished for him.

"Come on you two, I wanna take a look inside!" Jessie was tapping her foot impatiently. 

The four friends finally moved towards the entrance as Meowth and Pikachu scampered at their heels.

********************************

Brock stood behind the counter of the Pokémon Breeders Association Stall, amazed at the huge turn-out on the first day. The rock trainer checked his watch, in half an hour he would be finished with his shift here and had to make his way over to the Pewter City Gym stand and help out his father and brother.

Brock had been looking forward to this event for weeks. Not only would he get a chance to catch up with some old acquaintances but he would also have the chance to learn something new along the way. But the real reason he was looking forward to this event had nothing to do with Pokémon, but had everything to do with hormones. Women. There were guaranteed to be hundreds, thousands of beautiful women and girls at this convention. Somewhere out in the crowd was the one woman or girl for him.

He attempted to smooth his spiky hair a bit and quickly checked his appearance. He had agonised last night over his outfit. He wanted to look his best and to let the women know that they should watch out - 'coz Brock the Rock was in town! The breeder was dressed in a red short sleeved shirt and khaki pants. _Very nice_, he thought happily as he flashed his best smile at a couple of girls that walked past. _I am the MAN_! If he played his cards right, no woman would be able to resist the Brock charm, and he would be the one they would be queuing up to see. Not Ash, not Gary, Tracey, Richie, Danny, Rudy, Drake, Falkner, Bugsy or Morty. No man but him - Brock. This was gonna be a great two weeks…..

Meanwhile a few stands down, Misty was helping out her sisters at the Cerulean City Gym stand. The four Sensational Sisters hoped to convince as many people as they could that Water Pokémon were the best type to have. They had a bet going with her old friend Brock over which element type of Pokémon was the best - Rock/Ground or Water? Both Gyms had to keep tabs on the numbers of people that they managed to sway over the duration of the Convention. The Gym with the greatest number would win. If Cerulean lost, Daisy had to go out on a week of dates with Brock. If Pewter lost, then Brock had to be the Sisters' personal slave for the week. Daisy, like, did _so_ _not_ want to go out with Brock, so the Sensational Sisters just had to, like, _totally_ win.

They had plenty of people around their stand - mostly young men who wanted nothing more than to have a photo taken with one of the four beautiful Gym Leaders. Misty checked her watch - in an hour she'd have to make her way over to the Pokémon Medical Association, as she was now a fully qualified Pokémon Doctor. And if one Doctor Proctor attempted to flirt with her again, well she'd let him know that she was already spoken for. 

"Excuse me, miss," a small voice piped up. Misty looked to see a young boy peering over the counter. "I'm gonna be a trainer in a few years. Could you tell me what type of Water Pokémon I should get?"

So Misty extolled the virtues of the various Water Pokémon to her young audience. "So, as you can imagine, Water Pokémon are definitely the best," she finished.

"Don't believe her, kid. Electric types are the best. My electric Pokémon can beat hers any day," a familiar voice said from behind her. She whirled around, retort at the ready, when she saw that it was Ash who had spoken. He was standing next to Violet, Pikachu on his shoulder, with a cheeky grin on his handsome face. 

She gave him a thump on the arm. "Be quiet, you!" she growled and then turned back to the child. "Don't pay attention to him. He doesn't know anything about Pokémon." The boy's eyes widened and the red head giggled at the expression on the others' faces. "I'm only joking," she hastily reassured the child. 

Misty turned to Violet, "Excuse us for a few minutes," she whispered before she grabbed the Grand Master's hand and led him from the stand in order to spend some time together. She snuck a look at him as they walked outside the stadium to the small garden nearby. Ash looked incredible, dressed in a casual white shirt slightly open at the neck, black pants and a navy blue blazer which complimented his chiselled good looks and his warm, twinkling, dark brown eyes. His thick black hair was now always kept short, which made him look even better. And he no longer wore the beloved League Cap.

Misty suppressed a giggle as she remembered how he used to look when they first met. A rather short, slightly built young boy with wild, thick and rather long spiky black hair hidden under a cap. A boy who couldn't care less about fashion, who wore the same type of clothes every day. Blue jeans, sneakers, black t-shirt, blue sports jacket, green fingerless gloves, and the cap.

That attitude started to change when he won the top title when he was sixteen. He now was a public figure, and had to maintain a professional image as the face and number one trainer of the International Pokémon League. The League insisted he meet with their image/fashion consultant, and slight changes began to take place. Jessie also played a role in his transformation. Jessie took pride in the knowledge that she had good taste in fashion, and Ash was in constant daily contact with her, as she was his personal manager and agent. She was like a big sister to him, and he must have looked to her for guidance on what did and did not look good on him.

Now, the tall, twenty-six year old Pokémon Master made regular appearances in the "Best Dressed" and "World's Sexiest People" lists. Despite his image change, he still maintained that it was 'the inside which is the most important' and only followed four rules when it came to clothes. Stick to dark colours, keep it plain, keep it simple - and above all was he comfortable wearing it? He had developed over the years, a nice, toned, muscular build which made him look good in almost anything, and he had the confidence to carry it off.

Misty had also changed. The scrawny, ten year old tomboy had blossomed over the years into a stunning twenty-six year old beauty. Her figure had filled out nicely, with curves in all the right places, and her red hair now flowed down to just past her shoulders. She, too had changed her wardrobe over the years. The cropped yellow tank top, small denim shorts and red suspenders no longer existed. Today she wore slim black pants teamed with an emerald green halter neck top, which brought out the colour in her eyes. Her long hair was swept up on both sides with a green hair clip. 

The couple reached their destination, then Ash turned to her with raised eyebrows. "So…," he drawled. "I don't know anything about Pokémon, do I?"

Misty smirked at her boyfriend. "I couldn't resist it, Mr. Pokémon Master. But if you like, I'll say I'm sorry."

"You don't look it."

"Okay, then. I'll prove it," Misty said. She reached up and gave him a long, soft kiss on the lips. "How's that?"

Ash wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her close. There was a mischievous gleam in his dark eyes. "Hmmm…I may need more convincing."

The red head smiled. "Oh, _really_? Well then, how about _this_ one?" And with that, she pressed her lips against his in a hard passionate kiss, and wound her arms around his neck as he began to kiss her back.

They finally separated after a few minutes, both in desperate need for air. "Now, I'm convinced," Ash remarked as he caught his breath.

Misty lay her head on his shoulder. "So how did the Opening go?" she inquired.

"It went all right. Boring as most openings are. Same dull speeches," he answered.

"Maybe you should have opened with the line, 'Friends, Romans, Countrymen….." she started to say.

"Lend me your ears? I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him," the dark-haired trainer finished for her. "Yeah, right."

"You quoted Shakespeare to me the night we finally admitted our feelings, remember?"

"Remember it? How could I forget it?" Ash felt that he would never be able to forget the events that happened two years ago. He was stalked by females of both the human and Pokémon species, Brock fell in love with his mother, the Professor turned into a little boy, Misty's mallet failed to work, and he spouted lines from Shakespeare's works as if he had lived during that time. And all of it was caused by the magic spells of one lost little mischievous sprite.

"I wonder what happened to that little trickster?" Misty wondered.

"I don't know and quite frankly I don't care," Ash answered. "Come on, we'd better go back, otherwise Violet might think we've run off and eloped." And so they started back towards the Stadium.

Speaking of the little devil, Puck had at last reached the Indigo Plateau after getting sidetracked once or twice. The Pidgeys had spoken the truth - huge buildings were everywhere he looked. And there were so many humans about! The sprite noticed that the majority were entering a huge oval structure, and decided to follow them.

A wondrous spectacle greeted Puck's eyes. Small huts/stands were gathered in orderly rows with masses of humanity filling the spaces in between. Large banners and colourful bunting decorated the stands, and the babble of voices indicated to Puck that the humans were here to have a good time. He flew to another part of the huge structure. Here there were more of the little stalls, but the difference was that delicious smells of cooked foods wafted in the air. 

The small sprite left the Stadium and settled at the very top of a nearby tree. He knew that he really should get back to his world. He knew that if he stayed here to have fun, Calliope would be sent to cart him back to where he came from. Plus Queen Titania would have him punished. 

However Puck was never one to pass up an opportunity to have some fun. This was a golden opportunity - so many humans were all in the one place. It would be hard for them to pinpoint the exact culprit - which would be him. So he decided to stay, and pondered over the tricks he might play. As he settled back on a small leaf, he repeated his favourite phrase, "Oh Lord, what fools these mortals be!"

__

To be continued…..

Author's Note: No fun and games….yet. No cameos either - they will start next Chapter! So, to all those special peeps out there (you know who you are) - don't start throwing things at me yet (Dodges various flying objects). Okay - if you wanna be that way - FINE! (Brandishes an Anti-Egg Weapon) 

Got to set the story up properly…. Anyway….everyone knows the drill. Read & Review! I love reviews and any flames get fed to the Taz Devils. I don't bite. I'm a very nice person - really I am…. ^_^


	3. Chapter Two: Shall I compare thee to a S...

__

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

A/N: I don't own Pokémon or Puck. I only own the rights to this story. Prepare for major OOC here. Oh, and Chuchino owns herself……

__

Chapter Two: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day……..

Tracey Sketchit slid off the stool and stretched. The convention was now into its second day, and the attendance record showed that the numbers were up on yesterday. Tracey was on duty at the Pokémon Watcher's Association Stand, so far he had been very pleased at the number of enquiries about becoming a Pokémon Watcher. There was one child who he thought showed real promise. The boy had brought some of his drawings along - and they were _good_. If he kept it up - he could make a real name for himself.

The young man straightened the wrinkles out of his clothes. He had dressed comfortably for a long day ahead. He wore a white t-shirt with beige cargo pants, and with a dark green short sleeved shirt worn loose and unbuttoned over the top. His longish dark hair was kept out of his face by his red bandanna.

As there was nobody approaching him, he brought out his sketchpad and pencil which he had placed in his backpack. He used the quiet times to do what he does best - draw. Tracey really enjoyed being at the Convention. He could draw all the different types of Pokémon he saw - and also draw the occasional sketch of a pretty girl that walked by.

He spotted a cute little Swinub being carried by its owner, and began to draw the porcine Pokémon. He had started on the finer details of the picture when he was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Hey, Trace."

He turned to see his best friends Ash and James leaning against the back wall. Tracey grinned as he went up to them. "Hi guys. What brings you here?"

"Just checking to see how everyone's doing," Ash answered. Tracey knew that he and Gary tried to make it a habit of visiting each stand, to ensure that things were running smoothly. "Plus," Ash jerked a thumb towards James, "I owe this guy here a drink or two."

"Isn't it a bit early for alcohol?"

"He's not getting alcohol. Caterpie Cola."

"Caterpie Cola?"

"Limited Edition Pokémon Bottlecaps. Need I say more?"

Tracey shook his head. He remembered that James had a fetish for bottlecaps.

"There's a whole set of twelve to collect," James grinned.

"Yeah, so I'm buying him all of them." Ash said with a lopsided smile.

"All of them? How come?"

"Well, the League had us go on this promotional tour with the Johto League Champion a week ago. To keep the costs down, we decided to share rooms. James had to share with the Johto Champ's personal assistant - so he couldn't indulge in any cross-dressing for the whole week. So I promised James that I'd buy him more bottlecaps as a sort of compensation," Ash explained.

"Oooooo, I just _love_ Conventions!" James squealed as he bounced up and down in excitement, "Just think of all the bottlecaps I'll be able to add to my collection!"

"He has his quirks, but he does his job well," the Pokémon Master said with a sigh. He glanced over Tracey's shoulder and smiled. "Looks like you've got another visitor."

Tracey walked up to the counter. A young girl the same height as him, was standing there, dressed in a light blue t-shirt and blue jeans. Her long brown hair was swept up in a ponytail, and blue eyes gazed at him through a pair of spectacles. _She's quite pretty_, he thought.

"Hi there. My name's Tracey. How can I help you?" He held out his hand.

The girl smiled and grabbed it. "My name's Chuchino. You can't imagine what a thrill it is to finally meet you! I'm your biggest fan!" she said while shaking his hand enthusiastically.

A little _too_ enthusiastically for Tracey's liking. He felt as if his hand was going to fall off. He noticed an interesting badge on her shirt. It had the picture of a Togepi within a red circle with a diagonal line through it. Around the edge of the badge were the letters "I. T. E. O." "May I ask what that badge is you're wearing?" he inquired.

She looked down. "Oh that. You're looking at the President and founder of the International Togepi Elimination Organisation," she said proudly.

"Togepi Elimination Organisation?"

"Yep. We believe that Togepis, or the Egg, as we prefer to call it, are evil. They need to be eliminated for the good of mankind." Chuchino declared, and thumped the counter to emphasise her point.

"What's this about Togepi?" Ash interrupted as he came up to them. He soon found himself being subjected to the same enthusiastic handshaking that Tracey went through.

"Oh my God!" she gasped. "I finally get to meet the Grand Master as well! What a day!"

"Nice to meet you too," Ash replied as he tried to free his hand. "So what were you saying about Togepi?"

Chuchino let go of his hand. "Togepis are evil, and we need to get rid of them."

"This is Chuchino. She's the President of the International Togepi Elimination Organisation." Tracey did the introductions.

"An international organisation, eh?" James spoke up.

"Our members come from all around the world," she stated.

"Well, I always thought that Misty's Togepi was rather psychopathic," Ash grinned.

Chuchino looked at him. "She doesn't still have that _thing_ does she?" 

"No. Togepi disappeared two years ago and went….um…feral. Pikachu said that it was jealous because Misty and I had just started dating, and it felt that 'Mommy' was ignoring it." Ash explained.

"How do you know it's gone feral?"

"There's been reports that the Togepi population has increased dramatically over the last two years. Plus some of my Pokémon have encountered the original Togepi in the woods near Pallet."

"Ah, well if any Eggs turn up around here, I'm sure they'll be taken care of. There's sure to be some of my members around here." Chuchino smiled.

"Can I become a member?" James asked. "I always thought Togepi would make a nice omelette. But Meowth wouldn't let me."

"Sure," she replied and handed him a badge and a form. The girl then turned to Tracey, "I was wondering if you give drawing lessons?"

"Sorry, but I don't."

"What about private lessons?"

"I don't do that either. Teaching's just not my thing, " Tracey apologised.

Chuchino looked disappointed. "Oh well," she sighed. "I guess I'll see you around then," and walked off.

James grinned at Tracey. "Looks like you've got yourself a fan."

Once Chuchino was safely out of sight, she leaned against the wall and grinned to herself. So…Tracey wasn't one for giving drawing lessons. But little did he know that she was not interested in becoming a better artist - far from it. She was interested, more like obsessed, with _him_. All she wanted was to be with him - preferably alone. She narrowed her eyes in determination. _Watch out, Tracey Sketchit_, she thought to herself, _Because what Chuchino wants - Chuchino gets_….

********************

High above the crowds, Puck looked on in amazement as he flew around the marquees. He had never seen so many mortals in the one place! Such a sea of humanity! He looked at the occupants of one stand - and nearly smashed into a post in shock. Did his eyes deceive him? He was positive he had seen that man before - he seemed vaguely familiar to Puck. The sprite flew closer to investigate. _Let's see - dark brown spiky hair, goofy expression, and grooming a Ninetails……Ah, yes, now I remember him. Squinty Eyes! No…that wasn't his name….something to do with a rock……..ah….Brock!_ The human who provided him with hours of entertainment last time he visited. So, he was here, which meant that the other people he had met last time would probably be here as well. He rubbed his hands together in glee, this could prove to be interesting……

He remembered a Rattata telling him that other people teased his master about being dumb. "Let all those regarded as dense. Prove this fact to be utter nonsense. Regale all with your delightful wit. You can be a member of Mensa, there's nothing to it." After the incantation had ended, he waved his arms to release the magic.

He then flew off towards the food stalls, to inhale the delicious aromas that wafted through the air, and to grab a bite or two to eat. Puck zoomed over to the cake stalls, to the delightful smells of freshly baked cakes and slices. He closed his eyes as he took a big sniff……and promptly crashed into a stall post. Disoriented, the sprite wobbled in the air for a minute, then fell…..right into a enormous bowl of fruit punch.

"Ack!" Puck gasped as he surfaced in the drink. Luckily for him, no one had heard the splash, so he was able to swim to the side of the bowl. After many failed attempts, he managed to crawl out of the bowl and onto the counter. He shook himself and stumbled over to an open book that lay on the side. 

Unbeknownst to Puck, the fruit punch he had fell into was alcoholic. He had swallowed a full mouthfuls of the liquid, and there was a nice, warm feeling creeping on him. Now, fairies and alcohol do not mix and Puck would soon feel its full effects. The sprite managed to crawl on the pages and tried to read the words which were rapidly moving in and out of focus. "To be…(hic)..or not..to be..(hic)," Puck mumbled. "Dash a stoopid…(hic)…queshion…Who ever…wrote…thish…(hic)…should get…their…head checked." He lay down on the paper, "I thinksh that…(hic)…you…should be…'coz I ..(hic)…shay so." He waved his hands and giggled crazily at the sparks of magic that shot forth. "Oooooooh, look at all the (hic) pwetty..sparkles…"

***************

Daisy Waterflower was near the end of her patience. There was this arrogant young man in front of her who took pleasure in calling her a "dumb blonde" and was there for no other purpose except to torment her by trying to point out how stupid she was. "I bet you didn't know that people can charge a country for breaching a human rights treaty in the United Nations," he sneered.

"For your information, buster," she shot back. "Individuals cannot charge other countries before the United Nations. Only the government of that individual's country can take action. International law is between nation states - not individuals. There are a few treaties which provide for individual representation but not many!"

His mouth dropped open in shock at her outburst - as did her sisters'. Daisy was sounding _intelligent_ - and not one "like" or "totally" had appeared in her speech.

Lily blinked. "Like, wow, Daisy. How did you know that?"

"Yeah, like, that was totally cool!" Violet chimed in.

Daisy was a bit shocked herself. "I…really don't know. I just…knew it." She smiled, "Looks like I'm not a dumb blonde after all!" She turned to her three younger sisters. "From now on, I'm not going to intersperse my speech with 'like' or 'totally'. My valley girl days are over!"

Misty was shocked. What had happened to her sister? Only a few hours ago she had been saying the silliest things…

**************

Jessie smiled happily as she made her way through the milling crowds. She was really enjoying herself at this convention. For once she could wander about by herself - and not have her husband James and Meowth always tagging along. The promise of bottlecaps made James stick by Ash's side, and Meowth was just as happy to babysit Pikachu's litter of Pichus in Ash's office.

Jessie enjoyed the Pokémon side of the convention but also enjoyed checking out what people were wearing. Jessie considered herself to be a fashion consultant, she would often give total strangers advice on what to wear - whether they wanted to hear it or not. Just then her eyes fell on a truly sad sight. He stuck out like a sore thumb - he was in his mid-thirties and looked like he'd come from some costume party. He was garbed in clothes that came straight from Medieval England, and he had longish hair - which was curled. And he looked totally, utterly, lost. 

Jessie decided to help - and to do something about that outfit. Then at least people wouldn't stare at the poor man. She rushed up to him, "Excuse me, sir. Do you need any help? You look like you're lost."

The man turned to her. "Aye, I am lost. But you are one of the fairest maidens I have ever seen."

Jessie blushed. The man certainly knew how to compliment a woman.

"I was sitting at home, writing one of my plays when all of a sudden, I find myself in this strange place."

"Where do you live?"

"Stratford-Upon-Avon. Yet, I fear that I am very far from England."

"Yes you are. And since I don't know when you'll be getting home, you'd better come with me." She looked him up and down critically. "But first of all, we've got do something about that outfit."

"My outfit?"

"Your clothes. They're too old fashioned. What is your name?"

"My name, milady is William Shakespeare."

Jessie was only half-listening, thereby missing out on the first half of his surname. "So…you're Mr. Bill Speare? Okay, Bill. It's Makeover time!" And with that she grabbed her new companion's wrist and dragged the bewildered man off to the business sector of the Indigo Plateau.

__

To be continued……

__

Author's Note: _Okay - the fun and games begin, as do the cameos. Chuchino kindly gave her consent to appearing in this story, she just didn't know **how** she was going to be used……Hehe….anyway she's already vowed to get revenge. _

You know the drill by now - Read & Review! Flamers get fed to my Tassie Devils.


	4. Chapter Three: When You Wish Upon A Drun...

__

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

Disclaimer: Pokémon does not belong to me. Neither does Puck, or William Shakespeare. Nor do any of the authors whose cameos appear (excepting me, of course). I do own the storyline and Flory.

__

A/N: _Major OOC here! Yes, it may seem weird in parts, but hey - anything can happen with magic. Plus Puck got drunk in the last chapter - who knows how alcohol might affect him? The Pokémon's speech will generally be translated into English (though there will be times where it isn't) and in quotation marks and italics. Plus Togepi bashing ahead!_

Chapter 3: When you wish upon a drunk Puck…….

Ash leaned back in his chair with a smile. The Convention was into its fourth day, and a runaway success.

His private office in the Headquarters building served as a welcome refuge from his official duties of managing the Convention. Though if it was peace and quiet he was after - this was not the place.

The large office was filled with family, friends and Pokémon. His stepfather and Professor Oak were examining James' latest acquisitions to his beloved bottlecap collection; his mother was talking to Gary; Brock and Tracey were playing cards; Misty was getting some coffee; and Pikachu, Chikorita and Bulbasaur were playing tag around his feet. 

A happy chorus of "_Pi_"s drew his attention to the small baby's playpen in the corner where Meowth stood. Ash went over and knelt down next to the cat Pokémon - and immediately six small pairs of brown eyes blinked at him. For inside the pen were Pikachu's first litter of babies. The six Pichus were absolutely adorable - tiny bundles of yellow fur with black tipped ears and tail, and a band of black fur around the neck.

"Aw….ain't dey the cutest babies ya ever saw?" Meowth purred. "C'mon kids, look at what your Uncle Meowth can do!" And with that he started to pull the most ridiculous faces, which made the babies squeal in delight.

Ash grinned at the cat's antics. Who would have ever thought that Meowth could be so clucky? He remembered his astonishment when he heard about the amount of love and care that Meowth had lavished on Togepi before it hatched. Now, Meowth took it upon himself to help look after any baby Pokémon that Ash might have.

The cat adored Pikachu's little family, nothing made him happier than to hear them call him, "Uncle Meowth". Both Pikachu and her mate Raichu (who belonged to Ash's good friend Katrina) trusted Meowth with their offspring, and appointed him as official babysitter.

"_Pi_." Ash looked down to see one of the Pichus staring at him with soulful brown eyes while scrabbling at the sides of the playpen. The Pokémon Master gently picked up the tiny creature, upon which it immediately snuggled down in the crook of his arm. Cradling the Pichu, he walked over to sit beside James on the couch. As soon as he was settled, the Pichu scampered up onto his shoulder while Pikachu leapt onto his lap. 

"So, Pik. Which one of your sons or daughters is this?" Ash asked.

Pikachu rose up on her hind legs and sniffed her baby. "_This is one of the girls. Her name is Poppy_."

"Hello, Poppy," Ash greeted the Pichu who chirped in reply, then nuzzled his cheek.

"_I think she really likes you, Pikapi."_

Poppy looked at her mother, then at Ash. "_Pi pi chu_?"

"_No, dear."_ Pikachu corrected her, and repeated herself more slowly. "_Pi_ _ka_ _pi_."

Poppy tried again. "_Pichupi?"_ She smiled as her mother, Ash and James all clapped.

"_That's it! I'm so proud of you, Poppy," _Pikachu said proudly as Poppy scampered to her for a hug.

Ash then picked up Poppy and held her up to his face. "Aren't you a little cutie pie? Smart too," he cooed. The baby squeaked happily and gave him a little lick on the chin. When the time came for Pikachu's children to go to new trainers, he had a feeling that this little one would not be going anywhere. He felt sure that she would grow up to be just as powerful and feisty as her mother.

"You're almost as bad as Meowth is with baby Pokémon," James teased his boss. "And speaking of baby Pokémon, that reminds me. You have a photo session for the media at the Baby Pokémon Shelter stand this afternoon."

"Okay." The dark-haired trainer fell silent for a moment, then spoke up again. "Meowth told me that you have an unexpected house guest with you."

James nodded. "That's right. Jess found him wandering around totally lost at the convention two days ago. A guy by the name of Bill Speare."

"So, what's he like?"

"Jess really likes him, as do I. He's a very nice guy. You know, he is one of the very few people that I know, who was not at all shocked to see me go around in a dress. In fact he seemed almost relieved - he thought I was an actor! Jess thinks that he must be suffering from amnesia or something similar, because he doesn't know how to do a lot of things or what they are. He said that he had never heard of television before."

"You're kidding me."

"No, I'm totally serious."

"What does he do?"

"He says he's a writer. Jess decided to take him out again today."

*********************

Jessie was having the time of her life. Since Bill's arrival two days ago - she had the perfect excuse to do what she does best - shop until she drops. And then some. After all, Bill had no luggage with him, just the clothes he had been wearing. Jessie had subjected him to a makeover - therefore a whole new wardrobe was needed in keeping with his new look. 

She studied her handiwork carefully. He looked like a completely different person from the man she had met. His hair was cut short and a little spiky, he was clean shaven and looked much younger. He was dressed in a loose fitting dark red shirt and black pants, and he wore a stylish pair of sunglasses. Overall, he looked like any normal fashionable guy in his mid-thirties. Now all she had to do was to get him out of the habit of saying "thee" and "thou".

"I feel rather strange," he muttered as they walked along the mall. 

"You look normal," Jessie told him. "At least people aren't staring at you any more."

"True."

"Trust me. You look really hip."

"Hip? What do you mean I look like my hip?"

Jessie sighed. She kept forgetting that he was such a neophyte to modern things. "No, I don't mean as in the body part. 'Hip' in this context means the same as 'fashionable'."

"Oh. I guess that I'll just have to get used to all this new way of life. As I have no idea when I can return home."

"You have to stop saying 'thee' and 'thou' as well," Jessie added.

Bill stopped in his tracks and looked at her. "But why?"

"Because people don't speak like that any more. That way of speaking is _so_ out of date."

"But poetry sounds so much better when you use 'thee'. For example, 'Shall I compare thee to a summer's day.' Now _that _sounds poetic and wonderful. 'Shall I compare _you_ to a summer's day' does not quite have the same enchanting ring to it."

"You know, if James were here - he'd agree with you."

"Ah yes, James. How often does he go around in dresses?"

"At least three times a week. Why?"

"Are you sure he is not an actor?"

"I'm sure."

"Because from where I come from, only actors usually dress up in women's clothes - because women are not allowed to perform on stage."

"No. James just likes to dress up as a woman."

"Oh. Interesting chap."

*********************

Puck slowly sat up on his leaf, only to have a stream of sunlight shine directly into his eyes. He winced - he couldn't remember ever waking up before and feeling _this_ terrible. His head felt like lead and pounded with the most massive headache, his stomach was nauseous, his throat was parched…..and the list of symptoms went on and on. 

"Well, well, well. So the prodigal fairy is finally up," came a cheery and familiar voice. Puck slowly turned to see his cousin Florian sitting on an adjacent leaf, and munching on a berry.

"Fl…Flory? What…are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? _You_ wished me here - that's how!" 

"I don't remember…wishing you here," Puck said slowly as he got to his feet - however the dizziness made him sit right back down again.

His dark-haired cousin snorted. "And you wouldn't remember either. Because when I appeared here - you were drunk as a skunk and had passed out on the pages of a book. So I quickly zapped you to this tree."

"I was..drunk?" Well _that _would explain why Puck was feeling like he wanted to die.

"You certainly were! How did that happen? You know that we fairies can't tolerate alcohol."

Puck tried to think back, even though it hurt his head to do so. "I think…I fell into..a bowl of liquid at this huge human gathering over there. I…swallowed some of it."

Flory frowned. "Human alcohol? That's even worse!"

Now it was Puck's turn to frown. "How long have I been asleep?"

"One whole day." Flory passed him a tiny cup. "Here, have some coffee." He watched as his cousin sipped the hot liquid. "Don't suppose you know the spell to go home?"

Puck shook his head. "Sorry. I came into this world by accident - and the last time I went missing, the Queen's second in command, Calliope brought me home - and she didn't need to utter a spell."

Flory sighed. "Guess I'm stuck here then."

**********************

__

Back at the Convention…….

Misty smiled as another convert to Water Pokémon walked away. Score another mark for the Cerulean Gym. She wondered how Brock was faring in their little competition…..

Two strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist. "Hey Honey." 

She twisted around to give Ash a kiss. "Hi, Ash." She hugged him tightly before letting him go. Pikachu then jumped into her arms for a cuddle.

"How's the competition going?"

"Really good. Daisy's been doing a great job of convincing people." Both turned to observe Misty's oldest sister who was in the midst of another Water Pokémon spiel. Daisy had undergone an image transformation. She wore a smart blue business suit and her hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail. From time to time she wore spectacles, as they made her look more "intellectual" she had said.

"She certainly knows what she's talking about," Ash said in admiration.

"Yeah, but it seems weird. I mean, just two days ago she was talking about the basic stuff of Water Pokémon - and now….now she's talking about Pokémon as if she was the world's leading expert on it." 

Her boyfriend snickered. "Sounds like someone's jealous."

Misty whacked him on the head with a small mallet. "I AM NOT! It's just that……Daisy and brains don't usually belong in the same sentence."

"I still think that you're a bit jealous that your sis is now smarter than you. Plus you're still sore at losing the Trivial Pursuit Evenings for the past two nights."

The red head sulked a bit, "I guess you're right." The League had been holding Trivial Pursuit evenings - and people competed in teams of two. Misty had lumped Ash with James, 'Dumb and Dumber' as she had jokingly said. They creamed all the opposition. Last night Ash and Daisy had teamed up - with the same results. She narrowed her eyes at her companion. "Say, how come _you've_ become so brainy all of a sudden?"

Ash looked offended. "Hey, I've always been smart!"

"Yeah, right."

"Okay, okay….So I've been guilty of not using my brains from time to time."

"That's more like it." She stepped back and looked at him. "Hey..you're looking very smart today!" Ash was dressed in a dark blue shirt, black pants and black blazer.

"Thanks. I've got a photo shoot this afternoon for the media."

"Who with?"

"The Baby Pokémon Shelter. I'm having photos taken with all the orphaned baby Pokémon."

"Oh that's so sweet!"

He rolled his eyes. "I _knew_ you'd say that." Just then a soft snore drifted to their ears. Both Ash and Misty looked at each other then at Pikachu. "Where's that sound coming from?"

Pikachu's ears twitched and she pointed a tiny claw at her trainer's blazer.

"My blazer? Pikachu are you _sure_? Oh hang on a minute." From the depths of his blazer pockets, he gently withdrew a sleeping Pichu.

He held the tiny baby out to Pikachu. "So who's this, Pik?"

"_Poppy_."

"Poppy? How'd she get in there?" He carefully deposited the baby back into his pocket without disturbing it.

"_She must have crawled in there while you were working at your desk, Pikapi."_ Pikachu giggled. "_Though I bet Meowth is going frantic at the moment, wondering where she is."_

Just then Ash's cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID. "And speaking of the devil…" He listened for a few moments then spoke soothingly into the phone. "It's okay, Meowth. The Pichu is in the pocket of my blazer. You can stop tearing your fur out now." He ended the call and grinned at his companions. "You should have heard him. He sounded like he was about to have kittens."

****************

"So, how are you feeling now?"

Puck glanced at his cousin as they were flying around the giant marquees. That cup of coffee he had was just what he needed to revitalise himself a bit. He was thus able to guide Flory around the Convention. "I'm okay. Except for the occasional dizzy spell." What Puck _didn't _say that he was feeling _very_ happy and _very_ silly as well…..

"That's good. I thought you'd still be rather out of it. No one knows the exact effect human alcohol has on sprites."

"I'm fine." Puck glanced around and spotted his favourite breeder at his stand. He swooped down, as did his cousin and sat on one of the banners around the stall. 

Brock sighed. So far he had lucked out in the female department. Not one girl wanted to go out with him…yet. He only hoped that the Cerulean Gym was behind him in the little private competition - he may still have a chance at a date with the delectable Daisy. _Now what I would really like, is an older woman with a lot of spunk. Who's not afraid to speak her mind - and who's not attached_, he thought.

Puck smiled. "What you want - you will get." He thought for a moment before he began to chant, "Master of Rock, with slits for eyes. I know what you want, and that's no lie. A spunky older woman is what you'll get. You'll have a lot of fun - on that I'm willing to bet." The spell began to take hold…..

He then dragged his cousin over to where he spied a familiar red-headed Water trainer. Now, if his memory served him correctly, she had a violent temper to match the colour of her hair. He also remembered that her boyfriend had prayed for some salvation from this. So…."Mistress of Water, with hair of fire. I come to save your friends from the wrath of your ire. From now on shall you be mild and meek. Sweetness and light is all you will speak."

The two sprites flew off again. "So, this is what you do to amuse yourself" Flory spoke up.

"Yes, I'm amusing myself - but I'm also helping them at the same time." Puck retorted.

"The first human I understand. But what about that girl? I don't see how that helps her…."

"It doesn't help her - but her friends will be grateful."

"I see."

******************

Drake stifled a yawn as he took a breather just outside the Stadium. The Pummelo Island Gym Leader and Head of the Orange League stretched his muscles lightly and straightened his black vest which he wore over a tight, white t-shirt (which showed off his nice, muscular build) and black pants. He was soon joined by the two male members of the Orange Crew, Danny from Navel Island and Rudy from Trovita. Danny was looking great in a casual white shirt and blue jeans. Rudy was in his usual attire of black shirt, black pants and beige vest.

"Are you guys enjoying yourselves here?" he asked his colleagues.

"Yeah, I am, " Danny answered cheerfully. "Luana said that I should be able to find myself a nice girl here."

Drake chuckled. "She said the same thing to me too!" Luana was their colleague from Kumquat Island. She was much older than the rest of them - and tended to act like their mother. She even told Danny that he could call her 'Mama Wama.'

Just then Ash Ketchum and Gary Oak walked up with a wave and a smile. "Hey guys."

"Hi Ash, Gary." All three acknowledged the two new arrivals with a friendly nod.

"Taking a well earned break are we?" Gary began but was interrupted by two gleeful trills. All five young men looked at each other - no words needed to be said as to what _that_ sound meant….

Ash groaned. "Not more Togepi sightings…."

Sure enough, two small red and blue speckled Egg Pokémon waddled out of nearby bushes. "_Togi Togi Priiiiiiiiiii!_," they trilled in unison. "_Togi Togi Togi Priiiiiiiiiiiii!_"

"There are times like this when I wish I'd never taken that egg from Grampa Canyon!" Ash muttered as he covered his ears in annoyance.

"I wish you hadn't either!" Gary agreed.

The small group had almost had it with all the "_Togi"s _and "_Pri"_s when two little red dots appeared on the creatures before they vanished in a puff of smoke. They looked to the right to see two young women in their mid-twenties standing there, both armed with a small ray gun. Both were of medium height.

The first girl wore a blue t-shirt top over a black skirt. Her long raven hair fell just past her shoulders, worn loose except for a small section which was swept up on both sides and held at the back with a clip. Mahogany coloured eyes twinkled at them merrily. 

The second girl wore a yellow t-shirt with her black skirt. Light brown hair was swept up into a ponytail. Blue-grey eyes gazed at them calmly. Both surveyed their handiwork with satisfaction before putting away their weapons in their bags. 

The guys were amazed - those guns looked far too big to fit into a small handbag but it did. "How….did you fit that in there?" Drake stammered.

"That is for us to know…and you to find out!," the first girl said with a wink.

"I guess you two are members of the I. T. E. O," Ash said with a grin.

"We are. We call ourselves Team A."

"Team A?"

"We call ourselves Team A because," the second girl spoke up, "She's Aussie and I'm American."

The raven-haired girl then added,"Those weapons we use are Chuchino's patented Anti-Egg Neutralisers. There are a number of settings - Laser, Scrambled or Fried. Take your pick. By the way, my name's Trish and this is my best friend Pikajenn." 

"Nice to meet you," Ash replied.

"Nice to meet you, too." Trish smiled. "But we'd better get going. We have to report this to Chuchino."

"Yeah. We heard she would be attending the Convention. All we have to do is find her," Pikajenn stated. With a final wave the pair walked off.

Rudy stared after them for a minute before he ran after them. The rest of them watched as an animated conversation took place before the women went on their way. Rudy trailed back to the group despondently.

"Well, what happened?" Danny demanded.

"I asked Trish if she wanted to go on a date. She refused - so I tried again. But then she got mad at me." 

"What did you do?"

"I told her I knew all about Australia. I asked her what it was like to have kangaroos hopping down the main street."

"You idiot," Gary shook his head.

Rudy grinned. "But I won't give up on her!" He looked at Drake. "Drake, old buddy…" he began.

Drake sighed and finished for him. "You want me to do you a favour don't you? You want me to act as a go-between."

"You got it. I figure maybe you could convince her that I'm her dream date."

"How am I supposed to find one girl in this sea of people?"

"I dunno. So will you do it for me please?"

Drake exchanged a look with Danny. Neither of them were really good friends with the Trovita Island Gym Leader. His attitude, and arrogant air (as well as that hair flick) tended to get on their nerves. Both knew that in the last year or so, Rudy tended to be insufferable if he did not get what he wanted. Perhaps this girl could calm him down…."Okay, I'll do it. But I can't promise you anything."

"Great! Thanks."

*****************

Meanwhile Puck was still fluttering about at the Convention. Flory had gone back to the tree for a quick nap - so he was on his own. Passing easily amongst the crowds he was just about to go off for a snack when he stopped dead in his tracks.

And he saw……HER. The young girl was standing there, long brown hair framed her face as she talked to two older girls. To Puck she was the most beautiful mortal his eyes had ever seen. His heart pounded loudly and he felt as if she was the only other being in existence. He had never felt this way before - and he was certain that it was not just another symptom of his previous intoxication…..

"Oh," he breathed softly. "I wish I could give you the world." At his words, a small globe appeared in the startled girl's hands.

"Where did that globe come from?" Her companions asked.

"I dunno," she replied but then laughed. "But it's cool - however it came to be here!" 

Her warm smile and laughter made Puck's heart melt. Now he knew what was affecting him. Not alcohol, not fatigue - but love.

Puck was in love with a mortal.

__

To be continued……

Author's Note: Another part added to this light-hearted, slightly insane work by yours truly! So who is this mysterious brunette that Puck has fallen for? Why am I inserting all these real people into the fic? (Because **I** want to - THAT'S WHY!) Where is Chuchino, and what are her plans for a certain artist? You'll just have to wait for the next chapter……..

Read & review peeps! Flamers will be fed to my Tassie Devils. 


	5. Chapter Four: If Conventions Be The Food...

Midsummer Dreams __

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is Flory, Callie, Steven, Poppy and the storyline.

__

A/N: I have a little unpleasant business to attend to first. Now a certain reviewer of mine called a fellow FF.Net author and friend of mine "mentally deranged" because she doesn't like Togepi and thinks it should be scrambled. That was uncalled for - and I'm not very happy about it. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and we should respect that. If this person takes a look around FF.Net - there are a lot of stories that have character bashing and disliked characters being eliminated. I don't go around calling other authors "deranged" just because they do something unpleasant to a character I like. So neither should this reviewer. I would just like to say to this person - Yes, I **do** know my Pokémon; no they **don't** have to evolve (like Bulbasaur), and they can breed. Most importantly - this is **my** story _and written the way I want. If you don't like them - don't read them. _

Sorry about that peeps. OOC warning! Plus I'll say this here - Ash has his own private house at the Plateau, and Misty, Brock and Tracey are staying with him. Jessie and James also have their own little place. Understood? Good. Let the madness continue………….

Chapter Four: If Conventions be the food of love….

Puck was still giddy from his realisation, almost failing to notice that the object of his affections had moved on. Snapping back to reality, the sprite flew after her, eyes fixed on the girl as she wended her way through the massive crowds.

She stopped at the Pokémon Watcher's Association Stand where a poster proclaiming an art competition was nailed to the post. Puck flew a few feet in front of her and studied her lovely features.

The girl was clad in a denim skirt and green shirt which emphasised the emerald green of her eyes. Her long brown hair was loosely tied at the back with a green ribbon. The attendant at the stand was speaking to her. "Could you please tell me your name?"

"Arrow", she answered.

__

Arrow, so that was her name. "What an appropriate name for my fair maiden to have," Puck whispered. "For you have embedded yourself deep in my heart."

**************

Flory was in search of his cousin. Refreshed from his siesta, he was flying around trying to find Puck. So far, no luck. Flory found this situation rather ridiculous. After all how hard could it be to find the only other fairy in the place besides himself? 

The sprite noticed a large pen that was filled with baby creatures. He flew down and probed their minds, and what he discovered nearly broke his heart. These babies were all orphans, and the one thing they wanted above all - was to have a parent. Yet they did not want to be separated for they had become each other's family. Flory had to help them. He could not stand by and do nothing. Someone special was needed for these little ones. Someone who was pure of heart, and whose heart would be large enough to love all of them. He recited the incantation and set the spell in motion.

The sprite flew away, tears blurring his vision, so that he flew smack bang into a human's shoulders. Flory disentangled himself from the long brown tresses he was in, as the sweet scent of perfume wafted around him. He flew to the front to see who was the girl that he had run into. He took one look….. and "WOW!" Flory was smitten.

***************

Luana, the Kumquat Island Gym Leader, was enjoying catching up with Ash. She had bumped into the young Pokémon Master and his assistant as he was making his way to a publicity shoot. She remembered how they had first met on Kumquat Island. She had mistaken him for her only son Travis, grabbed him and nearly squeezed the life out of him with the force of her affection. They had remained good friends, Ash regarding her like a second mother. There were many similarities between their two families. Both Delia and Luana were widows. Both women only had the one child - a boy. Both boys became Pokémon trainers, and started out with a Pikachu. Both boys used to wear caps. Ash had written to inform Luana of his mother's re-marriage, and added that she too, might find another special someone.

A tall, handsome young man with spiky brown hair came up to them, and was greeted warmly by Ash. "Luana, I'd like you to meet one of my best friends, Brock. Pokémon breeder and Pewter City Gym Leader," he introduced. "Brock, this is Luana, member of the famous Orange Crew and Kumquat Island Gym Leader."

Brock grasped her hand and kissed it. "A pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too," Luana returned the compliment. She was very flattered by Brock's actions. No man had done that for her since…since her late husband. She looked him over - he looked strong, and not half bad as looks go. "I'd better be going. I was on my way to get something to eat."

Brock grinned. "Really? So was I. How about we go together?" 

"Well, why not." Luana accepted his offered arm and they went off. As she walked, this thought came into her mind. _This could be the start of a promising relationship. Brock and Luana - sounds good!_

****************

It was time for the publicity shoot. Ash glanced around at the hundreds of newspaper photographers and TV crews milling outside the enclosure in which he stood. He had agreed to a photo session for the international media at the Baby Pokémon Orphanage Stand, to help raise awareness of its good work.

Frolicking around at his feet were twenty orphans, each with a blue or pink bow around its neck to signify its gender. He waved to Pikachu who was sitting on the sidelines with James and Gary.

"Is everyone nearly ready?" he asked the media.

"Yes", "No", "Not quite" or "Nearly" came the replies.

Just then, Poppy chose to poke her head out of his blazer pocket. "_Pichu_?" she chirped as she gazed up at her trainer.

"Awwwwww….," was the collective response from the large crowd.

Ash scooped out the Pichu and held her up at eye-level. "Now, Poppy. You're not supposed to be in this shoot."

"_Pi_?" The baby cocked her head inquisitively.

"No. Now you'd better go back to your mother." He was about to walk over to hand Pikachu her baby when a chorus of voices from the media contingent stopped him.

"Aw, please don't leave it with it's mother, Mr. Ketchum!"

"Yeah. The Pichu would make an excellent addition to the shoot. The Orphanage doesn't have one."

"The people will just love seeing it in the pictures, as will the editors."

The Grand Master gave into their wishes and placed Poppy back into his blazer pocket. She wriggled around until she was in a comfortable position, and sat there with her head and two tiny paws sticking out.

"Now you behave," Ash told her in a firm but gentle voice.

"_Pichu_."

He looked down at the Baby Pokémon. They were all so adorable - Ash was a real softie when it came to babies, both human and Pokémon. He picked up the female Teddiursa that was patting his shoes, and cradled the small Pokémon in his arms. The tiny bear looked exactly like a stuffed toy that you could buy in the shops. Two big brown eyes full of trust gazed up at the Pokémon Master, and a marking in the shape of a crescent moon graced her forehead.

The dark-haired young man proceeded to tickle the soft brown fur on the Pokémon's stomach. The Teddiursa squealed in delight, waving her little paws around happily. Ash grinned. "Aren't you a cute little one?" he said while making a rocking motion with his arms. The Teddiursa blinked at him, before sucking on her paw in utter contentment. Within a few minutes she had fallen asleep.

Ash slowly sat down on the bale of hay that was in the enclosure, careful not to disturb the sleeping teddy in his arms. The other babies soon crowded around. "_Phan_!" Ash turned slightly to see two Phanpys clamber onto the bale beside him. They were twins - a boy and a girl. Ash caressed the two heads with his free hand and tickled them under their chins. "_Phy!_" they cooed and used their trunks to snuffle up and down his arm.

"_Smooch!_"

"_Iggly!"_

He looked down to see a Smoochum clinging to one leg and an Igglybuff to the other.

"Wow, they've all really taken to you," the lady running the shelter remarked.

"So it seems."

Forty minutes later, the session was over. Ash placed the now awake Teddiursa down on the bale before leaving the enclosure to talk to the media.

The babies looked at him, looked at each other - then all burst into tears. They made such a racket that everyone else stopped what they were doing. They saw the owner running around trying to soothe her sobbing charges. Nothing seemed to work.

Ash decided to go back in. "Can I do something?" he asked. The babies ceased crying and ran to him. He stayed for a few minutes, fussing over the cooing babies - then tried to leave. The waterworks resumed. He came back - and they dried up.

"Hey, Pikachu," he called to his favourite Pokémon, as he cuddled the Teddiursa. "Could you find out what's the matter, please?"

"_Sure_," she answered as she scampered into the enclosure. She addressed the male Phanpy. "_What's the matter? Why are you crying?_"

The Phanpy snuffled as he wiped away a few tears with his trunk. "_We…(sniff)…don't want Daddy to leave us._"

"_Daddy?_"

The baby pointed his trunk at her trainer. "_That's Daddy_. _We wanna go with him. We don't wanna be left here."_

"_Well, I guess he could take some of you._"

The Phanpy waved his little trunk in distress. "_No! We all go together. We don't wanna be parted. We're family._"

Pikachu scurried back to Ash. "_I've found out what's wrong._"

"And?"

"_They don't want Daddy to leave them here_."

"Daddy? Who's….," he trailed off and turned pale. "Oh no."

__

"Oh, yes."

"Oh boy," Ash muttered. "Um…I don't think…" A million thoughts were racing through his head. Twenty baby Pokémon now thought of him as their father. He had never had this happen before. All the Baby Pokémon he owned had parents. These little ones had no parents.

But, he wasn't ready to be a father! To either a human or Pokémon baby! He wasn't even married! Sure, he loved babies, but he wasn't ready for _twenty_ of them…was he?

He glanced down at the orphans, to find all eyes fixated on him, lower lips trembling. That did it. Ash's heart won out.

__

Oh god, I'm such a softie. Ash groaned silently. _I can't disappoint them - they've already been through enough heartbreak._

He waved over the orphanage's manager. "What do I have to do to adopt an orphan?"

She smiled. "All you have to do is fill out the form and have two people witness the whole process. Which one did you want to adopt?"

Ash took a deep breath before he answered. "All of them."

Her mouth dropped open, as did the mouths of everyone else there. "All of them?" she squeaked. "Are you sure?"

He nodded firmly, "I'm positive."

She snapped out of her daze and scurried to get forms. Ash patiently filled out the twenty forms and the other necessary paperwork, with Gary and James as his witnesses. When that was finished, he went back to the waiting orphans. "Okay, kids - you're all coming home with Daddy," he announced. Overjoyed, the babies all glomped on him while the cameras started flashing again.

The twenty Pokéballs were put into a bag so that Ash could carry them back to his office. James was over the moon at what happened. "This is gonna be FANTASTIC! What a great PR move," he crowed as they walked. "I can see the head lines now - 'All hail the Pokémon Father - Pokémon Master adopts 20 Orphan Pokémon.' This will further enhance your image as one of the World's Nicest Mr. Nice Guys." James poked Ash in the ribs, "Not to mention how this will boost your popularity with the women."

The Pokémon Master groaned. "That's the last thing I need - to have even _more_ women after me."

Gary snickered. "Daddy Ketchum."

Ash punched him on the arm. "Oh, shut up."

Finally they reached his office. Ash greeted his secretary and walked into the main room. "Oh, Meowth?" he called out.

The cat Pokémon appeared with a Pichu riding piggyback. "Yeah, what's up?"

Ash smiled at the cat. "I think you'd better sit down for this."

*****************

Tracey leant back against the tree and rested his sketchpad on his knees. He was on his break, he had taken himself to the small park not far from the Stadium to sketch the passing crowds.

There was a slight rustle in the bushes behind him, Tracey whipped around, but nothing was there. He stared at the spot for a few more minutes, but the bush never moved, so he returned to what he was doing. Maybe he was just being paranoid, or else he had been watching too many mystery movies - but he felt as though someone or something had been watching him for the past few days..

A small Pikachu ran silently from the bushes to its trainer who was waiting behind a nearby wall. The Pikachu had a tiny camera strapped to its forehead. Chuchino knelt down to give her pet a scratch for a job well done. She had been secretly following Tracey around for a few days now, but she was not quite ready to make her move on him yet. The preparations had not been completed. The room was ready, but she was still waiting on a few things. The girl gazed at the unsuspecting artist and grinned. "Just one more day or so, before I get my private lessons. Tracey - you will be mine!"

******************

Puck met his cousin back at their tree for dinner. "So, how was your afternoon, Flory?"

"Fantastic," Flory sighed slumping onto a leaf. "I met the love of my life today."

"Really? So did I!" Puck exclaimed. "Is she human?"

"Yes."

"What does she look like?"

"She's young, she has long brown hair down to her shoulders, and she's beautiful."

"That's like my girl. She's young and beautiful with long brown hair." Puck narrowed his eyes as a thought struck him. "We're not in love with the same girl are we?"

"Of course not!" Flory scoffed. "Her eyes are a sort of greyish green colour. What about your girl?"

"Green."

"See? They're different. I followed her back to her hotel room. What about you?"

"I followed mine too," Puck admitted.

"Did you see me there?"

"No."

"Well, there you have it. We are not in love with the same girl." Flory stated. "How about we visit them tonight?"

**************

Drake, Danny and Gary walked into _The Bigglypuff_, one of Indigo Plateau's most popular restaurants and nightclubs. "Say, aren't those the two girls we met earlier?" Danny inquired suddenly. His two companions looked to where he was pointing, and sure enough, they were sitting at a large table with another young woman who was tall with dark brown eyes and long dark brown hair.

"I guess it's time for me to play Cupid," Drake sighed before they made their way over. The girls were surprised to see them but invited them to take a seat. The other girl was introduced to them as Karin, another one of their friends.

"We only just got here," Jenn explained. "We're waiting to order dinner, so you might as well join us."

The dinner went by pleasantly, with the conversation touching on all different subjects. Drake asked Trish to dance, so that he could talk to her alone about Rudy. By asking her to dance, he hoped to lessen the possibility of the dark-haired girl thumping him when he did so. After a while, he thought it safe to broach the subject. "So, what do you think of my colleague Rudy, the Trovita Island Gym Leader?"

"Mr. 'Saturday Night Fever'? He's okay."

"Would you go out with him, if he asked?"

She sighed. "He's already asked, and I already said no. What part of 'no' doesn't he understand?"

"Why don't you want to go out with him? He's a really nice guy."

"He's nice, but he's not my type."

"So who _is_ your type?"

Trish was about to answer when Rudy walked up to them. "Hi you two," he greeted with a smile.

"How did you know where to find me?" Drake asked.

"Cissy told me." Rudy then turned to the young woman standing next to Drake. He clicked his fingers and one of his assistants came running with a bunch of flowers which he then handed to Trish. "These, my dear, are for you."

'"Er..Thank you."

He whispered in his assistant's ear, who then went over to the nearby jukebox, put some money in, and punched in a selection. "I dedicate this song," Rudy declared, "to the girl who saved me from the Egg, and stole my heart." The song was "_I Want You_" by Savage Garden whereupon he grabbed her hand and pulled her into a dance. 

A few minutes later the song was over, and Trish pulled away quickly. "That's very nice of you Rudy. And I'd like to repay the favour." She called out to her friend, "Hey Jenn! Come over here please?" 

Jenn did so, and she nodded at her whispered instructions. She went over to the jukebox and dropped a coin in. "This is my song for you," Trish said with a smile. The song the jukebox played? "_Don't Call Me Baby_" by Madison Avenue.

***************

Meanwhile, Puck and Flory were waiting on the balcony railing outside the hotel room where Flory's lady love was staying. They had been sitting there for half an hour when the light in the room flickered on. Flory sat up in anticipation, "She's here." He then stood up and launched into verse. "But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Erina is the Sun! Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon; Who is already sick and pale with grief; That thou her maid art far more fair than she."

Puck shook his head, his cousin was hopeless. He left the lovestruck sprite and flew off to a room that was around the corner. He flew in the open window, and gazed upon his fair maiden who was engrossed in a TV program. Puck was just content to sit and watch her - Arrow was, to him, the loveliest female he had ever seen. 

After she had fallen asleep, the sprite flew down to where she lay. He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek and went to sleep beside her on the pillow. When Arrow awoke in the morning, he had gone - and left a single, perfect, red rose on the pillow beside her.

__

To be continued…..

Author's Note: Love is in the air, and I hope that Arrow and Erina-chan aren't going to kill me over this! ^_^

Now I may have got the sound which the Phanpy makes all wrong. I've seen the episode with the Donphans - but has anyone seen one with the Phanpy in it? Nor do I know what sound a Teddiursa, a Smoochum or Igglybuff makes. The third movie is not due out in Australia until July (not fair) and I'm still waiting on "Chikorita's Big Upset" which I calculate to be shown on next Tuesday.

Now **nothing** happened between Arrow and Puck that night. He just went to sleep beside her, **not** with her. Same goes for Erina-chan and Flory.

Read & Review peeps! Flamers will be fed to my Tassie Devils.

Just one more thing. Does anyone out there consider themselves an artist? Because I'm planning to set up my own website for my fics in the next few weeks (time permitting) and I would like some pretty pictures to go along with my stories. Unfortunately, I'm no artist. So if anyone would like to contribute a pic that relates to one of my fics - I'd be very happy. Full credit to you too. Specifically, I'd like to see one of Calliope from "Midsummer Madness" or an ensemble pic for "Midsummer Dreams". My e-mail address is in my profile.


	6. Chapter Five: Much Ado About Something

Midsummer Dreams __

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, any of Shakespeare's works or any of the authors that appear. I do own the story line and various other characters. If I did own Pokémon - rest assured that my fic "_Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better" _would have been made into an episode! 

__

Author's Note: Many apologies for the long delay in posting - but real life took over for a while there…Also with the Chateau Plateau - all of the rooms are twin-share, so there are two peeps to a room.

__

Chapter 5: Much Ado About Something

It was ten o'clock before Misty came down for breakfast. She wandered into the kitchen to discover that the menfolk had already beaten her there and finished their meals.

"Morning, Sleepyhead," Brock greeted as he placed some fresh bacon rashers into a pan for her.

"I'm not a sleepyhead. As a member of the Sensational Sisters, I need as much beauty sleep as possible," Misty stated as she sat down at the kitchen table.

Ash looked up from where he, Tracey, Pikachu and Meowth were taking care of the baby Pokémon. Cradled in his arms was the little Teddiursa, who sucked away happily on a bottle of milk. "You need at least another week's sleep," he teased.

Misty stood up at this comment as Brock, Tracey, Pikachu and Meowth cringed in anticipation of the inevitable mallet. Ash decided to plead for a stay of execution. "I know you're gonna mallet me, but could you please wait until I finish feeding this baby?"

But Misty just had a puzzled look on her face. "Why would I want to whack you with a mallet?"

There was silence as her friends stared at her with their mouths open.

"Why would I hit you?" she repeated.

Ash was the first to recover. "Uh…because I just made a rude comment about your looks…and…um…that's what you usually do. Whenever I say something stupid or rude, you either wallop me with a huge mallet or your fists."

"And when you're not hitting Ash, it's usually me," Brock chimed in as he served up her breakfast.

"Oh, that's terrible! How often do I hit you?"

"Almost every day," Ash moaned.

The redhead was horrified. "Really?"

"Really," Brock affirmed.

"The truth is, Misty, that you have…uh…a.._very_ volatile temper," Ash added rather nervously.

Misty gazed down at her plate for a moment, when she raised her head, the men were startled to see a few tears glistening in her eyes. "I'm sorry, guys. I never should have hit you. Taking out my anger on others using physical violence is wrong. I'm sorry for all the pain I've caused you over the years. Can you two ever forgive me?"

Her friends were completely lost for words. Too shocked to say anything in response to this extraordinary and uncharacteristic outburst from Misty.

Misty was _apologising_? Misty was _sorry_? This wasn't like Misty. In all the years that Ash and Brock have known her, she has never _ever_ apologised for whacking them. Misty apologising for her violent behaviour was just wishful thinking. They would have more chance at seeing a squadron of flying Swinubs pass over, than to receive an apology from their female companion.

But now an apology had come from out of the blue - and etiquette demanded some sort of response from them. Ash and Brock exchanged a shocked glance before they managed to stammer in unison, "Of course we forgive you."

Misty flashed them a grateful smile. "Thanks. From now on, I promise to refrain from hitting you with a mallet or using excessive physical violence against you," she vowed.

"Uh…okay."

There was just silence in the kitchen as she finished her meal. Because nobody knew what to say. Finally Misty put her plate in the dishwasher and the last of the babies had been fed. The red head then kissed her boyfriend goodbye as she left for the Convention.

When she had left, Ash turned to his friends. "Did what I think just happened - really happen? Or am I just dreaming?"

"I don't think you're dreaming. Because we all heard it," Tracey said slowly.

"I think a nice reality check is in order here," Brock decided. "Because I'm not sure if I heard or dreamt all that either."

Everyone nodded. They gathered around Pikachu and placed their hands on her small head. 

__

Zap.

One thunder shock later and they were all lying on the floor, their clothes (and in Meowth's case, fur) slightly smoking. 

"Owwwwww", everyone moaned.

Ash struggled up to a sitting position as Pikachu leapt onto his lap and gave him a sympathetic lick on the face. "Okay, so that wasn't a dream." There was a pause. "Did anyone get the whole thing on tape?"

******************

Arrow whistled a tune as she waited outside the north-east entrance to the Stadium. She had a little mystery on her hands this morning. The mystery dealt with the origin of the rose that she held in her left hand. The rose that had been lying on her pillow when she woke up. How did it get there, and more importantly, _who_ put it there?

Whoever the mysterious intruder was, they certainly didn't enter via the doors or windows. She always made sure that the doors were securely locked at night, and the windows only opened a few centimetres. A quick inspection this morning revealed that nothing had been tampered with and everything was in its usual position.

She didn't know what to think or do, so she had called up her good friend Trish on her cell phone and arranged to meet her at the very place she was standing now. She hoped the older girl would be able to help shed some light on the subject.

Trish arrived right on the dot, with her arms full of floral bouquets, and looking rather flustered. "Hi, Arrow," she greeted.

Arrow stared at the flowers. There must have been at least six bunches in there. "Wow. Did you buy out the local florist?"

Her friend scowled briefly at her. "No, _I_ did _not_. These….," she broke off when she spied the rose. "Where did you get that?"

"I don't know." 

"You…don't know?"

"No. That's the reason I wanted to talk to you this morning. I found this lying on the pillow when I woke up." Arrow didn't like the funny look Trish gave her when she said that. "I know what you must be thinking - but I swear that there was no one else in my room last night," she said hastily, before her friend could get the wrong impression. "I went to bed alone and woke up- alone. I always lock the doors at night and they were still locked when I got up. I honestly have no idea of _who_ put it there, or _how_ it got there."

Trish gave her a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Arrow. I believe you."

Arrow was relieved. "You do?"

"_Yes_." Trish then gave a little chuckle. "One of the reasons being that, if anything strange is going to happen, it usually happens to you."

"It does not," Arrow protested, albeit rather feebly, for she knew that the other girl was right.

"It does too, and _you_ know it. What about that globe that appeared in your hands the other day?"

"Oh, yeah."

"And what about that time at the amusement park last year? We went on that ride which spins around and pins everyone to the walls. Only thing was, _you_ remained stuck to the wall, even _after_ the ride had stopped. Need I say more?"

"No," Arrow sighed. Eager to change the subject, she pointed to the flowers her friend was carrying. "So what's the story with all these flowers? Have you been having some wild, romantic fling and not told me anything about it?"

"No, I haven't had any 'wild, romantic, fling'. And for your information, I'd rather _not_, with this particular guy," the older girl retorted.

"So who's 'this particular guy'?" Arrow inquired.

"Rudy, the Trovita Island Gym Leader."

"Have you told him how you feel?"

"Yes, _many _times. He just won't take 'no' for an answer. He ambushed me outside the hotel this morning with all these flowers."

"Sounds like you've got a problem."

"Tell me about it."

**************

Jessie was doing the rounds of the Convention with Bill again. She regarded him as a good friend and was pleased to note how far he had come since she had taken him under her wing.

The image he presented now was a far cry from the bewildered, lost, and oh-so-unfashionable man she had first rescued from the crowd. He wore a loose dark green shirt unbuttoned over a white t-shirt and light cream pants. A pair of designer label spectacles completed the ensemble. His outfit met with Jessie's complete approval.

He was becoming more and more comfortable with the modern world. He had declared himself to be a 'student of modernity' and eagerly embraced all things that were new to him. His manner of speech could no longer be termed as quaint or outdated - he had gradually mastered the modern way of speaking, so that he sounded no different from any other man on the street.

The other night, Bill, James and herself had gone to one of the Plateau's nightclubs. Bill had been the undisputed star of the night - he won the crowd over with his first attempt at karaoke, and once he'd got the hang of it, enthusiastically led the crowd in doing the macarena, over and over again. He was a complete hit with the women, with large groups hanging onto his every word as he recited poetry.

Yes, Bill was turning out to be a real success story. She noticed out of the corner of her eye a young girl, who was, in her opinion, in dire need of her expert assistance. That outfit was _so atrocious_! "Hey, Bill," she called to her companion.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind looking around by yourself for the rest of the day? I've just realised I have some urgent business to attend to."

"No, I don't mind."

"Now you know where everything is, right? And you know where the house is, don't you?"

"Don't worry about me, Jessie. I'll be fine," he reassured her.

Jessie grinned, then moved off towards the hapless soul who was going to get her help - whether she wanted it or not.

Bill watched his friend disappear into the crowd, then withdrew a small notepad and a pen from his pant pocket. He planned to spend the rest of the afternoon wandering around, gathering ideas for his next literary masterpiece. He gazed at the two items in his hand with undisguised wonder. He couldn't believe how lucky these modern people were!

Back home, paper was expensive and a rather precious item. Here, paper was everywhere and people seemed not to care how much of it they wasted. Plus the paper had _lines _on it. Lines!

But what Bill considered to be truly marvellous - was what these people wrote with. No quills and ink bottles for them, they wrote with these strange sticks which flowed with ink at one end. The ink just seemed to go on, they _never_ had to dip the stick into an ink bottle. When the ink _did_ run out, he saw that people just threw away the stick and got another one just like it. 

He was so taken with these sticks, or pens, as they were called, that he begged Jessie to buy him a packet. He now considered them to be among his most prized possessions. Oh, how jealous all his fellow writers will be, when he finally gets home and shows them his pens!

He was nearing the Pokémon Watchers Association Stand when he heard a boy ask a question of a young man with a red bandanna in his dark hair. "Should I use 2B or not a 2B?"

__

Now **that** sounded good, even rather poetic, Bill thought. _Maybe I could use it in the new play I'm planning to write_. He scribbled the words down onto the pad - 'To be or not to be.' 

*****************

Arrow followed her friend to a corner of the _Cyndaquil Café_, one of the most popular eating spots on the Plateau. Trish was making a beeline towards where a woman in her late thirties, early forties was sitting. "Who are we meeting?" she whispered.

"Her name is Vickie and she's very good at giving advice if you have any problems. She attends all these conventions and sets herself up in the corner of a café as an unofficial adviser."

As they neared the woman, Arrow noticed that there was a little sign on the table. The sign stated that 'The Advice Guru is IN.' "Is she any good?"

"Rumour has it, that she was the one who finally made the Boss of Team Rocket see the error of his ways, and set him back on the straight and narrow."

Arrow was impressed. "Really?"

"Yes. She accomplished what many thought to be impossible. And now she has Giovanni wrapped around her little finger."

By this time, they had reached the table. Vickie looked up and smiled when she saw her visitors. "Hey, Trish. Looks like Rudy found you again."

"No kidding," Trish replied as she plopped down in the seat and dumped her flowers rather unceremoniously on the table. Arrow slipped into the neighbouring chair.

"Who's your friend?" Vickie enquired.

"This is Arrow, and she has a little problem for you."

Arrow then retold her story as Vickie listened intently. The woman was just about to comment when they were interrupted by a girl's voice.

"Excuse me, but are you the Advice Guru?"

They all looked up to see a diminutive young girl around Arrow's age, dressed in a red t-shirt and black jeans. She had greyish green eyes and her long brown hair was swept up in a ponytail

Vickie smiled warmly at the newcomer. "That's me. Please take a seat and we'll see if I can help you."

"Well, my name is Erina," the girl began," and this morning I woke up to find this lying beside my pillow." 'This' was a beautiful red rose which glistened in the sunlight. "I always check that everything's locked at night, so I don't know how it got there."

"That's _exactly _what happened to me!" Arrow blurted out as she produced _her_ red rose.

Erina was shocked. "Really?" The two girls gaped at each other for a minute then turned to Vickie for a possible explanation.

Vickie shrugged. "I'm afraid I can't help you much there, except to say that you two have secret admirers? Maybe even the same one. Someone who can get in without using the doors or windows."

"I can't help you either," Trish replied when Arrow looked at her. "Unfortunately, I know who my admirer _is_."

"You might be able to discover their identities. There are to be a number of dances held here as part of the Convention from now until it finishes," Vickie added.

***************

Bill sat down with a hot cup of coffee from Starmiebucks. He needed to take a break from all the walking, and it was a great opportunity to get some writing done. He pondered for a moment before putting his pen to the paper. 'It was a dark and stormy night.' No, that didn't sound right. 'Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.' Now _that_ was more like it.

"Excuse me." 

Bill looked up to see a young woman standing next to him. "Excuse me, sir. I couldn't help noticing you writing away there, and I was just wondering if you were an author?"

"Why, yes I am."

The girl grinned. "That's great! I was wondering if you could give me some advice. You see, I really want to become a best selling author."

"Well, I'll try my best to help you. Please, take a seat."

"Thanks." She sat down and pushed a stray strand of brown hair out of her eyes. "My name is Veronica, but I go by my pen name of 'Mystery Squeezit'."

"That's.. an interesting name. My name is…," he paused for a second. Should he go by his real name of William Shakespeare, or should he use the new, more modern name Jessie called him? He decided to go with the latter. After all, hadn't he declared himself to be a student of modernity? _When in Rome, do as the Romans do_, he thought. "My name is Bill Speare. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too." Mystery Squeezit returned the compliment. "Anyway, I've been writing stories for a while now, and I'd like your opinion on them."

"What type of stories do you write?"

"Mostly stories based on characters from my favourite TV shows and stuff. What do you write?"

Bill thought about it for a moment. "I mostly write plays and poetry. Dramas, Comedies, Tragedies, Romance."

"Wow." The girl was impressed. "Could I see what you were writing?"

"Sure." Bill handed the pad over to his new friend. 

She scanned the few lines of writing. "This is great! This sounds like something straight out of Shakespeare!" she exclaimed.

Bill suppressed a grin. "Do you really think so?" he said in a casual tone of voice.

"I do! And I just _love_ all of William Shakespeare's works. I just wish I could've met him," she enthused.

Bill fought to keep a straight face. Inside he thought, _You already have_.

***************

Puck and Flory were flying around the crowds, casting spells here and there. Flory spotted a young chestnut-haired man boasting to a crowd of onlookers. "Who's that?" he asked his cousin.

Puck peered more closely at the young man in question. "I do believe that is Gary Oak. I remember hearing a description of him last time I was here. He's best friends and former rivals with Ash Ketchum."

The two fairies flew closer and Flory frowned as he listened to Gary's speech. "Rather arrogant and obnoxious isn't he?"

"He does have an ego the size of a mountain," Puck agreed. "Last time I was here, Ash's Pokémon told me that when they were younger, there was nothing Gary loved doing more than to humiliate Ash in public."

Flory grinned. "Well how about for fun, we give him a taste of his own medicine?"

Puck chuckled. "Why not? I like the way you think, cuz."

Flory zoomed over to where Gary stood and began the incantation. "Master Gary Oak, grandson of Professor Oak. Now here's a spell that will make you want to choke. Remember all the silly and stupid things you did as a kid? All those who knew you back then will be sure to tell _everyone_ exactly what you did." The spell completed, the sparks flew into the Pokémon trainer.

The two cousins then flew off towards the food stands, in order to grab something to eat. Once there, they were trying to decide on Chinese or Italian when Puck spotted a large poster on one of the stalls and flew over to investigate.

"Oh, look Flory. The humans are having dances!" he exclaimed as Flory joined him. "I love dances!"

"Sounds like fun," Flory observed.

Puck had an idea. "Do you think I could dance with Arrow?"

His cousin stared at him. "Puck, you're a fairy and she's a human. How do you expect to be able to dance with her?

  
"You're forgetting that we have the ability to transform into humans."

"True, we can. But have _you_ ever done it before?"

"No," Puck admitted. "But I'm willing to give it a go."

"I don't know whether I should let you do this."

"Oh, come on, Flory!" Puck implored his cousin. "Be a good sport. Besides….you could then dance with _Erina_."

That did it. "Okay, you win. But we'd better work on transforming after dark."

"THANK YOU!" Puck cheered. "I get to dance with Arrow! I get to dance with Arrow!" He closed his eyes in happiness and zoomed around crazily.

"Puck, I think you'd better look…." Flory began to warn his cousin, but that was as far as he got. Puck slammed into a stall post and fell….into the bowl of fruit punch.

"Ack!" Puck spluttered as he surfaced.

"Oh, _no_," Flory groaned as he slapped his hand to his forehead. "Here we go, _again_."

***************

Tracey looked at the note that his colleague had handed to him as they were closing up for the night. The note was addressed to him, but he had no idea who it was from. The note had been discovered lying on the counter after both men had come back from lunch. He opened the letter and read the following words:

__

"If you want the chance to see a rare Pokémon, please come to the cabin in the woods outside the Stadium tomorrow afternoon. I'll then take you to it. 

A Friend."

Tracey thought about what to do. It could be a hoax or it could be genuine. The only way to find out was to turn up at the appointed time tomorrow. Even if it was a hoax, he could still sketch some wild Pokémon. He decided to accept the invitation.

****************

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, a tiny figure could be seen flying through the corridors of the _Chateau Plateau_, the biggest hotel to be found on Indigo Plateau. The figure was weaving erratically from side to side, and gently hiccupping every few minutes.

It was Puck, who had managed to slip away after his cousin had fallen fast asleep, and found himself at the hotel where his lady love was staying. He was feeling extremely happy and silly and decided to have some fun with the human guests. "Oh hotel gueshs…(hic) you...will…be the ones..to give..me(hic) the betsh…ennertainment (hic)...I've had yet (hic). Now you are ashleep..(hic) in your own beds (hic). Shome of you..will wake up…to find…yourshelf (hic) in someone else's inshtead (hic). He laughed crazily as the magic began.

***************

Drake woke up to the sound of a stifled scream. In his sleep befuddled brain, he thought that his room mate Danny would know better than to wake him up with a scream first thing in the morning. He slowly opened his eyes and then got the shock of his life. That certainly was _not_ Danny who was staring at him from across the room…..

All over the _Chateau Plateau_ the same scene was taking place. People were staring at each other with wide eyes and asking the same question. "What are _you_ doing in _my_ room?"

__

To be continued……

_Author's Note: Many apologies for the long delay between postings but my life went crazy for a few weeks. Not all of it was bad - good things happened too. I am a Master! I graduated with my Masters Degree in Politics and Public Policy - and I've been busy filling out applications for graduate positions with the Government. My sister also had her fourth baby last week - a girl! So I was busy helping to mind her three older kids. Makes you appreciate just how much work your mother puts into looking after you!_

In the next chapter - we'll find out who has landed in with who, in this game of Musical Beds. Puck is drunk as a skunk again - so watch out! And I think we all know who sent that note to Tracey… ^_^ All this and more in the next instalment of this loopy romantic comedy. The whole idea of the original story "Midsummer Madness" was rather crazy anyway. Try to combine Pokémon with Shakespeare and make it work - I was the only one crazy enough to take it on.


	7. Chapter Six: The Slings & Arrows of Outr...

Midsummer Dreams __

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

Disclaimer: The only thing I own is the storyline and any other characters that I made up.

__

A/N: This part is dedicated to Erina-chan. ^_^

__

Chapter 6: The Slings and Arrows of Outrageous Fortune

Drake stared at the other occupant of the room who stared right back at him. The young woman looked very familiar as she pushed her long black hair out of her face. "Trish?" he finally ventured.

"Drake," she acknowledged.

He sat up in the bed, "Can I ask what you are doing in my room?"

"_Your _room?" she squeaked in surprise. "I think _I_ should be asking _you_ that very same question."

"It can't be your room."

"Well, it's got to be one or the other," she mused. "But then again, we could _both_ be in the _wrong_ room." Drake just looked at her. "Hey, it was just a thought!"

"Well," Trish said after a moment's silence, "there is only one way to settle this." She swung her legs out of the bed and smoothed down her night shirt which proclaimed 'I HATE MORNINGS'. Drake followed her as she walked over to the built in wardrobe. The doors slid open to reveal lots of women's clothes, then Trish dove in with a triumphant shout. She emerged with a grin. "This is definitely my room and Jenn's, and these prove it." She held out two large stuffed toy Pikachus.

"Okay, so you win," Drake conceded as he sat back down on the bed. "But how did this happen? I don't even know your room number! Plus where did Danny go to?"

"And where's Jenn?"

****************

Jenn couldn't believe this was happening. She had gone to bed at the same time as usual last night - only to wake up to find herself…in Gary Oak's room???? Not only that, but she had been sleeping in _Richie's_ bed - who was Gary's missing room mate. Not that she really minded waking up in Gary's room, she had always thought he was rather cute. But she _was_ anxious to find out the whereabouts of her best friend. "Uh…could I use your phone?" she asked the chestnut-haired Pokémon trainer.

"Sure, go ahead."

She sat beside the phone and dialled her room number. It was picked up on the first ring.

"Hello?"

Jenn was relieved to hear Trish's voice on the other end of the line. "Hey, Trish! Listen, I have a major problem here," she began.

"I know. Where are you?"

"Would you believe it - in Gary Oak's room. This is so unbelievable!"

"I know."

"Maybe I'm just dreaming the whole thing up, including this phone conversation. Maybe it's really supposed to be a nightmare."

"If it was a nightmare, then Rudy would be in my room and I would be out of here. You're not dreaming, Jenn. I've already pinched myself twice. You are _really_ calling from Gary's room, and Drake is _really_ sitting on your bed dressed in a white t-shirt and boxer shorts."

"Sounds like someone's checking a certain guy out," Jenn teased slyly.

"Oh, and you're not sitting there checking out Gary?" came the retort.

"Anyway, I was just ringing to see if you were still in the room, and if you could send some clothes over, please?"

"Sure. I'll send it over with Abra. What room number are you?"

"2422." Jenn then added, "Oh, and one more thing before you go."

"What's that?"

"You two better behave yourselves in there."

"Oh, Shut Up." 

****************

Once Abra had been sent on it's way, Trish disappeared into the bathroom to change while Drake called up Danny. It turned out that Karin, the other girl they had met last night had somehow ended up in their room. Drake also arranged with Danny to send Gengar over with his clothes.

Trish emerged from the bathroom, dressed in a dark red shirt and tailored black pants, and hair neatly brushed. "So is everything okay now?"

"Yeah. What did Jenn say to you?"

"She's in Gary Oak's room," she stated as she sat down. "And she told me that _we_ had to _behave_ ourselves."

"I see." Drake understood what she meant by _that_. "So she expects us to just sit here."

"Yeah." The dark-haired girl then chuckled. "But since when have I been known to do exactly what Jenn wants? We can still have some fun."

"Cards?"

"No, I had something else in mind," she admitted as she sat next to him.

"Like what?" Drake noticed there was a mischievous twinkle in her dark brown eyes. Was she about to….? If she was he really should move away. Really he should. But he didn't want to. Because he had fallen for this lovely young woman next to him.

"Well, Jenn never said that we couldn't do _this_," Trish stated with a smile as she leant towards him.

"And that is…."

"PILLOW FIGHT!"

*************

__

Later that morning….

"So that's what happened," Richie finished.

He and Gary were sitting in Ash's office, filling their friend in on the extraordinary events that had occurred that morning at the _Chateau Plateau_. The entire guest population had been in an uproar for a few hours, with many confused people wandering the corridors in their night attire trying to find their proper rooms.

Both of the guys had been afraid that Ash would scoff at their story - but they shouldn't have worried. The dark-haired Pokémon Master had barely raised an eyebrow during their narration. "So, do you believe us?" Gary pleaded.

Ash smiled. "Of course, I do. In fact, I have no choice _but_ to believe you."

"What do you mean?"

He leaned forward in his chair and tapped a small pile of paper on his desk. "Before you guys came in, I was given this by Officer Jenny. It is an account of the whole incident that you've just told me about." He sat back and thumbed through the sheets. "There's a long list in here with all the major people who were staying at the hotel and who they woke up with."

Gary mentally kicked himself. He should have known that Ash would have already been informed about it. As the Grand Master and Head Trainer of the Pokémon League, his job was to be kept informed of anything that happened to the top trainers and Gym Leaders in the various competitions. Since many of the Gym Leaders were staying at the _Chateau_ _Plateau_, it was only natural that Ash would have heard about what had happened.

"You really thought that I wouldn't believe you?" Ash asked in a tone of mild disbelief. When he got an answering nod, he continued. "Guys, you should know better than that. You are looking at the one guy in the world, to whom strange occurrences are almost a normal part of life."

Gary and Richie couldn't argue with that. Ash had a unique talent for landing himself in situations which often defied explanation. If something strange happened, it was usually a safe bet to say that Ash would be involved somehow.

Ash looked down at the report. "It says here, that you woke up with some young girl by the name of Rachel, Richie."

"That's right," Richie sweatdropped at the recollection. The young blonde had screamed when she first saw him and fainted. When he finally revived her, she had promptly latched on to him and refused to let go. She kept on babbling how this was a dream come true, and how she just _knew_ that if she kept on wishing on a star, that he would appear. It had taken him about half an hour just to get out of the room.

"It also says," Ash continued as he read on further, "that Rudy needed some medical treatment after an altercation with a girl named Erina."

"I saw that!" Gary exclaimed. "I stuck my head out the door to see Rudy come tearing past. Hot on his heels was this young girl wielding this _huge _mallet and screaming out that he was a pervert and to not mess with Riny."

Ash closed the file and was about to comment when James entered the room. "Hey, Ash are you busy?"

"No. Why?"

"Violet and Lily are here to see you." 

"What for?"

"They didn't say. They only said that it was important."

Ash raised his eyebrows. "Send them in."

"Well," Richie yawned out as he rose from his chair, "I gotta split."

"See ya later."

After Richie had left, Gary spoke up. "I'd leave too, only I don't think I can at the moment." The reason being that the two baby Phanpys, known as Eddie and Ellie, had fallen asleep on him - Ellie on his lap and Eddie on his feet.

His old childhood friend grinned wickedly. "Aw, how sweet! A real Kodak moment if you ask me. The babies asleep with their dear Uncle Gary."

"Aw, shut up," Gary growled good-naturedly.

"Stop trying to deny that you're just a big softie at heart - I know it and you know it."

Gary's mock scowl disappeared as he looked down on the sleeping Pokémon with a fond smile. "Yeah," he agreed softly. "But I'm not as big a sap as you!"

"True."

Gary chuckled. "We can't hide much from each other can we? We know each other too well."

"Well, we have known each other since we were babies."

The office door opened to admit the two Cerulean City Gym Leaders.

"Like, hi Ash! Hi Gary!," Violet greeted cheerfully.

"Hi," Lily echoed.

Ash stood up to greet his guests, "Hi Violet, Lily. Welcome to my humble office." Once they were seated, he began. "So what brings you two ladies here?"

"It's about Misty," Lily replied. "She's acting really weird."

"Yeah," Violet added. "And she's like, _totally_ scaring us."

At this Ash muttered something quietly under his breath, which only Gary, being the closest, managed to hear. He suppressed a chuckle, for what he had heard was, "So what? She scares _me_ nearly every day."

"She's being, _totally_ unlike herself," Lily continued.

"She called a kid's Caterpie _cute_, this morning - and even gave it a _hug_!" Violet chimed in.

"Not only that, she brought out Psyduck, and she, like, called it the best Water Pokémon ever."

"Then there's Daisy. And she's being, like, far too smart."

"Well," Ash decided. "Let's go and take a look."

**************

Brock whistled to himself as he waited for the three finalists in the Best Pokémon competition to line up on stage. Brock was one of the judges, as was the very well-endowed Prima. The contestants and their Pokémon were introduced one by one.

"Our first finalist here is Russell," the compere boomed. A tall young man in his early twenties stepped forward. "He is accompanied by his Umbreon, Merlin." 

Prima studied the Umbreon. The Pokémon looked very well cared for. But she was more interested in the trainer - with his short dark brown hair and warm dark brown eyes, he was _very_ cute. _I wonder if he's single_, she mused.

"The second finalist in our competition is Leo," the compere continued. "And here he is with his Feraligator, Godzilla." A tall young Hispanic man dressed in a Dallas Cowboys t-shirt and blue denim shorts came forward with his Pokémon partner.

__

This one's not half bad either, Prima thought. 

"Last but not least, our final contestant in this Best Pokémon competition is Mariah with her Pikachu, Athena." A young brunette stepped forward with a cute little electric rodent by her side.

The judges made their way onto the stage for the final examination that would determine the winner. Brock made sure to carefully examine each Pokémon. Prima made a show of examining the creatures but she was really checking out the two male human finalists. Their vibes told her that they were good people, and that she'd really enjoy getting to know them. _But which one do I go after_?

Once they were back at the judges' table, Brock turned to her. "So, Prima which one do you think?"

"Well Russell is great, but Leo is just as attractive," she answered.

Brock stared at her. "Um, Prima. I meant the _Pokémon_ - not the trainers."

The Mistress of Ice blushed. "Oh, sorry. What must I be thinking?" she giggled.

A few minutes later, the decision had been made. Merlin the Umbreon had been declared the winner along with his proud trainer, Russell.

Prima was still wrestling with her little problem. Russell or Leo? They were both just as attractive. She made her decision - she couldn't decide between them, so she'd go after both. She didn't see anything wrong with that, she had always been rather bohemian in both her thought and lifestyle. She pushed her chest out and looked at the two men with a sly smile on her face. _Watch out, boys. Prima is coming to get you._

Brock stepped off the podium after the contest finished. He was due to meet Luana for lunch, the two Gym Leaders had become firm friends and having lunch together had become a regular habit. He spotted the Kumquat Island Gym Leader making her way towards him and waved. Just then, his cell phone rang.

Luana was a few metres away when she saw Brock answer his phone. As she drew near, she could hear a few snatches here and there of his conversation. Something about, "Meeting…..Luana……really….great…..rings…..propose..date."

Luana stopped dead in her tracks. Were her ears deceiving her? No, they couldn't be - she had always been told that she had excellent hearing. _He said something about me, rings, proposing and a date_, she thought. Could it mean what she thought it did? "Oh, Brock," she whispered as tears came to her eyes. Luana had been on her own for so many years now, and loneliness had been her constant companion ever since her husband died. It wasn't so bad when Travis was around, but the young man had left to be a Pokémon Master, and only came home once every few years. But now….

She looked up to see Brock put away the phone. She charged towards him, with her arms open wide and yelling, "BROCKY BABY! COME TO LUANA, HONEY!"

****************

Ash, Lily, Violet, Gary and James stared at Misty who was happily cuddling a Caterpie. Ash had borrowed one of Bugsy's Pokémon in order to see just how strange she was acting. Instead of shrieking like he expected her to, she hugged the Bug type Pokémon close to her chest.

"Um, Misty," Ash began hesitantly, "that's a _Bug_ Pokémon you're hugging."

"So?"

"So - you _hate_ Bug Pokémon with a passion."

Misty held out the Caterpie at arm's length. "Did I really? Well, something must have been wrong with me then. How could _anyone_ hate such a cute widdle Pokémon, like Caterpie?" she cooed as she once more embraced the small bug.

Her friends and family had large sweatdrops coming off their heads. This was _not_ like Misty at all.

"Misty, what do you think of carrots?" Violet questioned.

"Oh, I just ADORE carrots!"

"Peppers?"

"_And_ peppers!"

Ash stepped forward. "Misty, what would you do if I said that I think you're ugly?"

She smiled at him. "Why nothing, because I know that you don't really mean it."

"But I do mean it!" Ash protested in an attempt to get her mad at him. This was not the Misty he was used to - the Misty he knew and loved would have driven him into the ground with one hit of her mallet.

"He's telling the truth you know," Gary added, trying to help his friend. "In fact he told me that you were scrawny and that a year long beauty sleep would not do anything to improve your looks."

But Misty just laughed and kissed her boyfriend on the lips. "Nice try, but I don't believe you." And with that she walked back to the stand.

"She's scary," Ash muttered.

"I agree," Gary and James chorused.

"See, like, we told you so!" Lily said smugly.

"I know, I know," Ash agreed as he stared at the red head. "But there's nothing I can do about it."

"Why not? You _are_ the Pokémon Master."

"Yes, but this has nothing to do with Pokémon. I may be able to control almost any Pokémon in the world, but I can't do the same with people. I don't have any magical powers to use on humans."

"We also told you, because you're like, family," Violet added. "We think of you already, as like, our brother-in-law."

At this statement, Gary and James raised their eyebrows and looked at Ash pointedly - as if to say 'Is there something you haven't told us?'.

Ash glared back at them and shook his head. "Well, I thank you two for taking the time to tell me about this," he told the two Gym Leaders. "But we really must be on our way. We promised to listen to Professor Oak as he speaks to the media."

******************

Professor Oak was just beginning his speech when the three young men arrived. They spotted Delia and Steven standing to the side and moved to join them.

"How does it feel to have your grandson Gary, as the second most powerful trainer in the world?" a reporter wanted to know.

"It feels great. I'm really proud of him," the Professor answered. "And let me tell you, he was certainly quite a handful when he was a little boy."

__

Uh oh. Gary was getting a _bad_ feeling about this.

"Are there any stories that you'd like to share with us?"

"Certainly," the aging Professor chuckled. "Where should I start? Well, when he was little - he had trouble pronouncing the 'r' in his name. So he used to introduce himself as 'Gawwy'."

Gary turned red as the assembled media chuckled at this. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Ash and James were trying their hardest not to smile. He glared at them.

"Then there was the time he broke one of his sister's favourite dolls. So as punishment, she made him dress up in her clothes for two whole days."

At that moment, Gary wished that the earth would swallow him up. He had never been so embarrassed in his life - here was his grandfather telling total strangers all the silly things that he did as a kid. Everyone, including Ash and James, laughing at him! He felt like he could shrivel up and die.

"Hey, Professor," Delia called out. "Do you remember the time Gary ran away?"

"Why, yes I do. But I'll let you tell the story." The camera then swung to focus on Delia.

__

Oh no, Gary moaned inwardly. _Not you too, Mrs. K!_

"Gary grew up with my son, Ash," she explained. "They were born just a week apart, and his mother is my best friend - so they've known each other for their whole lives. Gary was just the cutest little thing you ever saw!"

"One day, Gary got into trouble with his parents for being naughty. So he decided to run away - to our house. He announced in a serious voice that he was going to live with us. He started calling Ash his 'bwother' and even went so far as to dye his hair black. Only thing was, he used a can of black paint."

__

I cannot WAIT for this thing to be over! Gary groaned.

***************

The afternoon sun shone nice and warm on Tracey's back as he arrived at the designated meeting place that was specified in the note left by the anonymous visitor. The small wooden cabin was in a forest clearing, just like the note said. There was no one outside that he could see, so he decided to look if they were inside.

The door creaked slightly as he pushed it open. He stepped inside, only to hear a triumphal shout and a handcuff slapped on his left wrist. Tracey stared at the handcuff and looked to discover that the other one was around the wrist of a young girl with brown hair and glasses who looked vaguely familiar.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

__

To be continued…..

Author's Note: _No prizes for guessing who it is at the end. This part was dedicated to Riny, for threatening me to hurry up with the next chapter! ^_^ _

But I really want to say that this chapter, indeed the **whole **story, is dedicated to my friends, the majority of whom are fellow FF.Net authors - Vickie211, Pikajenn, Arrow, Erina-chan, Chuchino, pf14, Mystery Squeezit, Russell, Karin, FusionBlaster, and Seabeast. Without them - there wouldn't have been a "Midsummer Dreams". And I have to mention this one other person - because he has been the whole inspiration behind this Pokémon story. William Shakespeare - aka Bill Speare in this fic. Perhaps the world's greatest author and playwright. His work has stood the test of time. I only wish that I could write like him.

I'm really enjoying writing this. ^_^

If you like this type of cameo fic - please go and read "Interruptions" by Arrow, and "Disbound" by Erina-chan. They are really good and really funny. 

Until next time…..

Trish 


	8. Chapter Seven: Now Is The Summer Of Our ...

Midsummer Dreams __

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything here except some characters and the storyline.

__

A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Chuchino. Rated PG-13 for the innuendos flying about… ^_^

__

Chapter 7: Now is the Summer of Our Enchantment

Tracey stared at his female captor who was striking Ash's famous Victory pose, while crowing, "All right! I caught a Tracey Sketchit!"

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"You can call me Karlie, but I also go by the name of 'Chuchino'," the girl stated.

Then it clicked. "Hey, you're the anti-Togepi girl who came to my stand the first day!" the Pokémon Watcher exclaimed.

"That's me. I'm anti-Egg and proud of it."

"So why have you brought me here, and what's with the handcuffs?"

"I want to spend time alone with you," she gushed. "I'm your number one fan in the whole wide world - and we were destined to be together. The handcuffs are to make sure that you don't get away."

"Couldn't you have just asked me?"

"No," Chuchino replied cheerfully. She noticed Tracey starting to edge his free hand towards his waist. "I wouldn't bother calling one of your Pokémon if I were you. These handcuffs are Scyther proof."

"Scyther proof? Where did you get them?"

"I've got connections," she smirked. "As Madam President of an international organisation, I know many important people in many different places."

Tracey sighed. "So I guess I'm stuck like this until you decide otherwise."

"You got it. Where Tracey goes, Chuchi goes too!"

"So this whole letter about a rare Pokémon was just a setup to get me?"

"That's not true," the brunette protested. "I _do_ have a rare Pokémon for you to see."

"Then, where is it?"

She pulled him outside to the clearing and threw a Pokéball. Tracey hoped that it might be a Dratini, or a Delibird or some other rare Pokémon. The red energy materialised into a……_Snorlax_?

"That's just a Snorlax!"

"Ah, but this one's different."

"Like how?"

"This Snorlax suffers from a bad case of insomnia!"

__

Oh great, Tracey moaned inwardly. _I was lured all this way just to see a Snorlax who can't sleep?_

Chuchino recalled the tubby Pokémon then locked the door of the cabin. "Come on," she ordered, pulling Tracey towards the path. "We're going back to my room."

Well, Tracey had no choice but to follow.

"Let's see," Chuchino muttered to herself, "I've got the pink feather boa, chocolate sauce, strawberries, whipped cream…"

At each muttered word Tracey became progressively paler. _Pink feather boa? Chocolate sauce? Whipped cream? Strawberries? _And they were going back to _her_ room and he was _handcuffed_……_Dear Lord, what type of kinky things did she have planned for him_? 

Oh God. He was gonna have all the Officer Jennys after him if they found out about this. He would be labelled a 'cradle snatcher' and his friends would be horrified. He mustered up his courage. "What…do you need those for?" he blurted out.

She looked at him calmly. "My friend Rachel is throwing a party for the girls at the Pokémon Centre_._ I promised to help Trish with the dessert she's making. She can whip up one of the best Black Forest Cakes! The sauce, whipped cream and strawberries are for decoration. The feather boa is for me to wear."

"I see." Tracey breathed a quiet sigh of relief. At least they weren't going to be used for kinky activities. He felt quite embarrassed for even entertaining such thoughts. Of course, hanging around with Brock all these years hadn't helped. _Next time Sketchit - **leave** the room when Brock is about to divulge one of his X-rated fantasies!_

***************

Brock had just put away his cell phone when he saw Luana charge at him like a bat out of hell. Before he could speak she threw her arms around him in a bonecrushing hug. "Oh Brock!" she gushed. "I do! I do! I DO!"

"Um…do what?" Brock wheezed.

She loosened her hold on him. "Why accept your marriage proposal, of course. I heard what you were planning over the phone. I never knew you felt that way sweetie!"

Brock was confused. _What marriage proposal? _But before he could utter another word, she had grabbed him so that his face was almost buried in her ample bosom. "You are my world, my soul, my life, my love!"

Where did she get this idea from? His phone conversation had _nothing_ to do with marriage. He had been talking to a prospective client who was interested in buying the newest litter of baby Sentrets from Brock's Pewter City Breeding Centre. Brock's end of the conversation had gone like this; "Oh you're not interrupting anything, Mr. Flannery. I'm just meeting my friend Luana for lunch. Oh, yes - Sentrets are really great Pokémon. The width of each ring on the tail is unique to each individual Sentret. I would be happy to meet you on any day that you propose. The 25th is fine. So shall we make the meeting for that date?" He then realised that she must have heard only certain words of the conversation - and misinterpreted it.

"Um…Luana - you've got it all wrong.." he began but Luana wouldn't let him finish.

"No I haven't," she insisted with a smile. "I distinctly heard you say my name, and talk about rings, proposing and a date."

Well, he couldn't deny that. "Yeah, maybe I did, but…"

"But what?" She playfully swatted him on the arm. "Brock, honey - you are such a tease!"

The Pewter City Breeder smiled weakly. "Yeah. Um…I've just remembered I have to do something really important." He turned and fled.

The Kumquat Island Gym Leader stood for a moment as she looked at the retreating figure of her fiancé. She decided to run after him. "Brock sweetie! Wait for me!" she hollered.

***************

"That would have to be one of the _most humiliating_ episodes of my life!" Gary moaned as he walked back to the offices with Ash, James and Pikachu from Professor Oak's media conference. "I can't believe Gramps did that!"

Ash chuckled. "Well, _I_ enjoyed it!"

Gary scowled at his best friend. "_You_ would. It isn't _your_ grampa who's telling the world embarrassing stories about your childhood."

"True. But my mom does the same thing."

"I can't believe she did that either."

"It could have been worse," Ash mused. "At least they didn't recall the Tarzan incident."

__

Yikes! How did he remember that? I think it is time we changed the subject here, Gary thought. "What did you…" 

"Then there was the time you thought you'd make a much better Bo Peep," Ash continued, quite oblivious to Gary's interjection.

"What's this about Tarzan and Bo Peep?" James asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Nothing, absolutely nothing," Gary jumped in before Ash could reply. "Trust me, they're such boring stories you wouldn't be interested."

"Oh, but I _am_ interested!" James protested.

Gary looked around desperately for something to distract James off the topic. Aha. Just the thing. "Look Jimmy," he pointed to one of the stalls. "You can get a special limited edition set of Pikachu bottlecaps when you purchase one of the 'I Choose You Pikachu' interactive soft toys!"

James' face lit up like a little kid's on Christmas morning. "Oooooh really?" he squealed. "Let me see! Let me see!" And without further ado, he dashed off in the direction Gary pointed.

Ash sighed at the behaviour of his personal assistant, then turned to find Gary looking daggers at him. "What?" he asked innocently.

James returned five minutes later, hugging a stuffed toy Pikachu with a small box tightly to his chest. "I finally got one! I finally got one! Now I can die happy."

"What - the limited edition bottlecaps?" Gary asked.

"No," James said with a huge grin. "The interactive Pikachu. I've always wanted one, but Jessie refused to buy it for my birthday." 

"How old _is _he?" Gary whispered to his colleague.

"Thirty-three, but turning four," Ash replied.

Just then, the quartet were startled to see Brock come rushing up to them. Ash waved to his long-time friend, "Hey Brock. How are you…" he began - only to have the breeder grab him by the lapels of his jacket which nearly sent Pikachu tumbling off his shoulder.

"Ash! Just the man I wanted to see!" Brock gasped. "I need to ask you for a really big favour."

"Sure, what is it?"

"Hide me!" he pleaded.

Ash stared at him. "_Hide _you? What on earth for?" he questioned.

Brock was about to reply when Luana caught up to them. "Oh, sweetie. There you are!" she exclaimed as she grabbed him by the arm, forcing him to let go of Ash's jacket.

"Hi Luana," Ash greeted the Kumquat Island Gym Leader.

"Oh, hi Ash, Gary, James. Nice to see you again. Has Brock told you the wonderful news?"

"No," Gary spoke up. "What wonderful news?"

"Brocky and I are getting married!" Luana beamed. "He proposed just a few minutes ago."

Four sets of jaws dropped in astonishment. Ash was the first to recover, and extended his hand to Brock. "Wow, that's wonderful Brock, Luana. Congratulations!" Pikachu leapt into Brock's arms to give him a hug.

"Yeah," Gary chimed in. "Congratulations. You certainly are a fast mover Brock!"

"Congratulations from me too," James added. "I always thought that Ash and Misty would tie the knot first - but it looks like I'm wrong."

"Um, Ash. Can I see you about an important gym matter?" Brock muttered.

"Certainly, Brock. How about tomorrow morning?"

"How about right _now_?" 

Ash caught the hint of desperation in his friend's voice. He nodded. "That's fine with me. We're just heading back there now anyway."

Luana kissed Brock on the cheek. "I guess I'll see you later then."

***************

Tracey was feeling rather uncomfortable and out of place. Here he was, the only male at an all female gathering, and the only reason he was there at all was because he was handcuffed to a fanatical admirer. 

The girls were friendly enough though, and none of them seemed surprised to see him handcuffed to Chuchino. The hostess, Rachel, explained to him the reason why. "She always said that she'd get her hands on you one day."

He also learned that the majority of the girls at this party were I.T.E.O members.

"The I.T.E.O is very popular with females," Chuchino said. "You know I almost called the organisation 'Karlie's Angels' but I decided against it. Sounded too much like something out of Hollywood."

**************

Brock was pacing up and down in front of Ash's desk and wringing his hands. "What am I gonna do, guys?"

"Brock, sit down," Ash said.

"I never even asked her! What do I do? I've never been in this situation before!"

"Brock, would you _please _sit down?" Ash tried again, to no avail.

"This is _bad_! This is gonna ruin my chances with Daisy Waterflower, not to mention Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny!" his breeder friend babbled.

"Bulbasaur?" Ash called out. The small dinosaur-like Pokémon poked it's head out from under the desk where a game of "Tag" was in progress. "Could you please tackle Brock onto the sofa for me?"

"_Bulba!_" The Pokémon launched itself at Brock and knocked him onto the sofa as directed.

"Nice work, Bulbasaur," The Pokémon Master praised the little creature. He turned to the babies who were playing with Meowth. "Okay, kids. Why don't you all jump on Uncle Brock so that he stays seated?"

The babies were only too happy to comply with their Daddy's orders. Brock was almost buried under the pile of orphans. "Hey!" he protested.

"Well, you wouldn't sit down when I asked you to," Ash said with a smile as he leant back in his chair. "Now, if you'll just calm down - maybe we can discuss this little problem of yours."

"Okay, I'll be quiet."

"Dat's a relief," Meowth muttered as he pulled some cotton wool out of his ears. Brock glared at him but the cat just stuck his tongue out.

"If you think about it, this little problem of yours is really quite funny," Gary chuckled.

"He's right, you know," Ash chipped in. "All your life, you've chased after and been rejected by countless numbers of women. Now that you've found someone who is willing to be with you - you don't like it and freak out."

"I don't think it's funny," Brock grumbled. "Here I am, engaged to somebody that I don't love - and all you guys can do is laugh."

"I'm sorry, Brock," the dark-haired trainer apologised. "But I never thought I'd live to see the day when you would run _away _from a woman who _likes_ you!"

"Yeah, well there's a first time for everything. So what do I do?"

"There are all those dances coming up this week. And what better place to find a single girl?"

******************

Later that evening, two tiny figures appeared in the forest clearing near the Stadium. It was Puck and Flory, and they were there to work on their transformations before the first dance was to be held.

The sprites flew to the ground and stood facing each other. "Guess I'll go first," Puck spoke up.

He took a deep breath and concentrated. A blinding white light surrounded him and when Flory's eyesight returned, his cousin was in human form. But not just any human form.

"Hey, I'm _Elve_-is Presley!" Puck crowed.

Flory just gave him a withering glance. "Puck - why on earth did you transform into Elvis Presley?"

"Because I felt like it?"

"You can't dance with Arrow as Elvis Presley!"

"Why not?"

"Because Elvis is dead."

"Says who? People have claimed to see him from time to time," Puck protested.

"Plus these are _not_ fancy dress parties."

"Oh, all right," Puck pouted as he transformed, only this time into a teenage boy with dark brown hair. "You, are no fun."

"And _you_, my dear cousin, are a pain in the butt," Flory retorted as he too, changed into a handsome teenage boy with dark chestnut hair, complete with tuxedo.

Puck whistled in admiration. "Not bad, not bad at all!"

"You don't look half bad either."

"Do you think we pass?"

"I think we do. Now all we have to do is test it out tomorrow."

***************

"Where is Tracey? I haven't seen him all day," Misty fretted as she waited with Ash and Brock outside the headquarters building. They had just finished a quiet dinner and were waiting for their friend at their designated meeting spot before making their way back to the house.

"Don't worry, Mist," Ash reassured her. "Trace probably wandered off into the woods to sketch some wild Pokémon."

"He'll be back," Brock added.

Sure enough, their friend appeared - only this time with company. The trio stared at the young girl who was with him. Their eyes widened even more when they saw the handcuffs.

"What the…" Misty began.

"Uh, Ash, Misty and Brock. I'd like you to meet Karlie, also known as Chuchino," Tracey blurted out. "She's a big fan of mine, so she thought she would capture me."

"I'll say she has," Ash murmured.

"Anyway, we've got a slight problem. I can't get out of the handcuffs and they are Pokémon proof. So….."

"So he's staying in my room!" Chuchino piped up.

"Just thought I'd let you know," Tracey added. His friends could tell he was embarrassed by the whole situation.

"Will you be okay?" Ash asked, a little worried.

"I think so."

Brock laughed. "Of course he'll be fine! I bet he planned the whole thing! He'll make sure that this is a night…." The rest of his words were muffled by Ash's hand which had been slapped over his mouth.

"Shut up, Brock." 

Misty turned to Chuchino. "Don't mind our friend Brock here. He just needs to take a chill pill."

They waved goodbye to the pair and started off for the private quarters. Once they were safely out of hearing, Ash removed his hand from the breeder's mouth.

Tears started running down Brock's face. "Now what?" Ash said in some exasperation.

"Why can't I be handcuffed like that to Officer Jenny?" he wailed.

"Mist, do you have a mallet handy at the moment?" The Pokémon Master asked sweetly.

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"May I borrow it for a minute?"

__

To be continued……

Author's Note: A very Chuchi chapter here - she's either going to kill me or hug me for this…. ^_^

And now - dear readers, a little question. All good things must come to an end - as does this series. I'm ending it at either 10 chapters or 12 (depends if I can keep this craziness up or not). Should there be a sequel to "Dreams"? Should it be a cameo fic? If the answer is yes - and you want to be in it - let me know. Of course all those peeps in there now - might still find themselves in the sequel anyway! I'm having too much fun messing with everyone. Mwhaaaa! ^_^

Next chapter - Riny & Arrow finally meet their secret admirers! Will Tracey survive the night with Chuchino? Can Misty get even scarier than she is right now? What do Tarzan and Bo Peep have to do with Gary?


	9. Chapter Eight: Dreamed You Into Life

Midsummer Dreams8 __

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon or Puck or William Shakespeare. I do own the storyline plus various other characters. Also the title was taken from one of my favourite songs, "_I Knew I Loved You"_ by Savage Garden.

A/N: _This chapter is dedicated to Erina-chan for her birthday. Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Riny. Happy Birthday to you! _^_^

__

Chapter 8: Dreamed You Into Life

Tracey stifled a yawn as he followed Karlie into the _Cyndaquil Café_. They threaded their way towards a large table with six people. As they drew near, he could see that the group consisted of girls and women he had met at yesterday's party.

"Hey, Karlie! Tracey!" Rachel hailed the duo. "You're just in time. We're about to order breakfast."

They sat down and scanned the menu. Tracey decided on the cereal. Meal options were rather limited when you only had one free hand. The orders were taken and as the waitress left, the conversation started up once again.

Tracey yawned once again. "Did you sleep well last night?" He turned to see Vickie looking at him.

"Not really," he replied. That was an understatement. Tracey hardly slept at all. Trying to sleep and get comfortable whilst being handcuffed to another person is not the easiest thing in the world. When one person moves, the other does too, whether they like it or not.

The most sensible option was to sleep on his side, facing Chuchino's back, with his handcuffed arm draped over her body. Tracey had dismissed this, for fear it could be regarded as _improper_. He, was after all, at least ten years older than her - and if anyone who wasn't in the know, saw them like this…..Well, he didn't even want to think about it.

So he had stayed flat on his back, but sleep would not come. He was much too worried for that. Worried about what position he'd find himself in the morning, worried that Chuchino might take it the wrong way. Tracey had had no idea of what to do in a situation like this. There wasn't a book on _'The Proper Etiquette When Sleeping Handcuffed To Another Person.'_

Reflecting on last night, Tracey wondered how his two male friends would have handled being in the same situation. Ash, he felt pretty sure, would have freaked out a little bit, before falling asleep. Brock, on the other hand…..

Tracey quickly dismissed from his mind what Brock would have done. Suffice to say that it would have ended with a well-aimed mallet. He was brought back to reality by the sounds of an argument that was taking place on the other side of the table.

"No, I won't do it!" This came from Trish who sat with her arms folded in front of her. On either side, Arrow and Erina were trying their best 'puppy dog eyes' on their older friend. 

"Me neither," Jenn added. Tracey turned to his left to see Chuchino and Rachel applying the same look to her.

"But you _promised_!" Arrow whined.

"Yes, we promised your parents that you'd go to one dance and that's all!" Trish retorted.

"What's going on?" Tracey interrupted.

"We're trying to persuade Trish and Jenn to agree to let us attend _all _the dances this week," Arrow explained.

"And it says here in the Convention guide that anyone under the age of eighteen, must have an adult there who's willing to act as a chaperone." Erina added. "But these two are being stubborn."

"No we're not," Jenn protested. 

"Please? It'll be fun!" Arrow begged.

"No way. And nothing is going to make us change our minds," Trish stated in a firm voice.

"That's right," Jenn chimed in.

"Nothing?" Arrow echoed sadly.

"Absolutely nothing."

"Not even for a chocolate?"

"No." 

"How about a box of chocolates?"

"No." But Tracey noticed that both young women hesitated before answering.

Erina had an evil grin on her face as she waved a box of chocolates under Trish's nose. "Not even for a box of your favourite Duc D'o Belgian Truffles?"

The dark-haired girl's eyes widened. "Riny, that's playing dirty!" she protested feebly.

Jenn noticed that her best friend's resolve had started to waver. "Stand firm, Trish!" she shouted but then trailed off when Rachel waved a bag of Dove Promise chocolates in front of _her_ face.

"Well?" Erina coaxed, still waving the chocolates about in her friend's face.

"We promise to be good!" Arrow piped up.

Trish closed her eyes, took a deep breath and replied. "Oh, all right then."

"You win," Jenn gave in as well.

"Yay!" The younger girls celebrated.

"I thought you two said that absolutely nothing would make you change your minds," Tracey teased.

"So we exaggerated a little," Trish conceded as she popped a chocolate in her mouth. "_Almost_ nothing, then."

"We don't always give in so easily, " Jenn added as she scoffed one of hers. "But we couldn't say no to a freebie like this!"

"Are you going to be there at each of the dances, Vickie?" Arrow asked.

The woman smiled. "Of, course. I have to go along to keep an eye on _those_ two!" Tracey saw that she indicated the two older ones eating chocolate.

"Why?" Tracey was confused. Trish and Jenn looked like they could look after themselves pretty well.

Vickie chuckled. "They may be twenty-six and twenty-five years old respectively but those two often get into as much mischief as any teenager can."

"Like what?"

" You know what happened at the _Chateau Plateau _the other day?"

"Yes."

" Well, Trish got into a pillow fight with Drake, and Jenn had a competition with Gary to see who could jump up and down the longest on the beds."

The two girls in question coloured slightly as their younger companions looked at them with wide eyes. 

"You didn't tell me anything about this!" Arrow squealed as she grabbed Trish's arm.

"You didn't ask!" The older girl said.

"I want to know _everything _about it," Arrow demanded.

"Me, too," chorused Chuchino, Erina and Rachel.

"There's nothing much to tell," Jenn grumbled. "I wanted to do something fun. It was either that or watch cartoons on the TV."

"We'll tell you later," Trish said as their breakfast orders were placed in front of them.

Everybody ate in silence for a while, then Rachel spoke up. "So what is everybody doing today?"

"I think we all need to do some shopping," Vickie decided.

"That's right," Trish agreed. "If we're going to attend all the dances, we'll need to hire some more gowns." She began listing off the things they needed to do. "Shoes, jewellery, makeup, hair appointments….."

"Okay," Karlie grinned. "Let's do some shopping!"

Tracey nearly choked on his spoonful of cereal. The dreaded "s" word had been brought up. The girls were going to go _shopping_ - and he was going to be dragged along with them, literally. What was worse, they were looking for evening dresses which meant that they would not stop until they found the perfect gown. Tracey sighed inwardly. This promised to be a _very long_ day.

***************

Later that morning, Ash, Misty, Gary, Brock and James were walking towards the Stadium when they saw a small group leave the _Cyndaquil Café_. Misty thought she spied a familiar male face among all the females. "Isn't that Tracey over there?" she pointed out.

Ash peered in the direction she indicated. "So, it is," he murmured. "Hey Trace!" he hollered as he ran up to the group, his friends following on his heels.

The Pokémon Watcher waved to his friends. "Hi, guys," he greeted.

"Did you sleep well last night?" Ash asked with some concern.

"Not really," Tracey answered which brought a sly chuckle from Brock.

"That's because he…..YEEEEOWWWWWWW!" The Pewter City Gym Leader yelped as Ash and Gary simultaneously stomped on his feet, one on each side.

"Oops. Sorry about that, Brock-o," the Grand Master said coolly. "But I didn't see your foot there."

"Neither did I," Gary smiled.

"So, Tracey, where are you off to?" Misty asked.

Tracey looked a little embarrassed as he answered. "The girls are going shopping, and I…um..kinda have to go with them." At the mention of the "s" word, Ash, Brock and Gary sent him pitying looks with the same message. _You **poor **thing._

Misty's face lit up. "What are you girls shopping for?"

"Evening dresses for the dances," Karlie answered.

"Do you mind if I come along?" Misty enquired. "I need to find some dresses as well."

"Sure."

"Can I come too?" James begged. "I want to try on some dresses!"

The girls looked at each other. "Uh, I suppose so," Karlie said slowly. "The more the merrier!"

James grinned and turned to his boss. "Is that okay with you?"

Ash frowned. "James - you are _not_ wearing dresses to the League dances."

"I know, I know. But it's not fair that _Jessie_ gets to wear all the great clothes," James pouted. "I look just as good as she does in a little black dress! Please, can I go along?"

"I don't know…."

"I'll be good!" James pleaded. "I haven't been able to try on dresses for _ages_!"

"Go then," Ash sighed. 

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank _you_!" his personal assistant squealed as he joined the group, who then walked off.

"Ever wondered what it would be like to have a _normal _personal assistant?" Gary spoke up.

"I have," Ash replied. "But then again, I couldn't imagine not having James around. He's become like the goofy older brother I never had. Same with Brock here."

"I am not goofy," Brock protested.

"Oh, yeah?" Ash grinned. "Nurse Joy."

Brock immediately went into 'pretty girl mode'. "She's the woman of my dreams," he gushed.

"I rest my case."

***************

Jessie stood in the doorway of _Starmiebucks_, scanning the faces of the crowd. She had promised to meet Bill here, along with his student. The red-head had been surprised at the news. Jessie knew that Bill was a full-time writer - was he a teacher as well? 

She spotted him at a table near the rear of the establishment. With him was a young brunette who she assumed was his student. As Jessie neared the table, Bill looked up and smiled. "Jess, it's good to see you," he greeted. I'd like you to meet Veronica, or Mystery Squeezit as she is known by her penname. Veronica, this is my good friend, Jessie."

The young woman shook her hand warmly. "Pleased to meet you. I hope to become a professional writer one day, and Bill has agreed to give me some advice."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too ," Jessie said as she took a seat next to Bill.

"We were just discussing how people are taking classical literature and modernising them."

"And I suggested that perhaps it was time that some of Shakespeare's works were revised," Bill said.

"By revised, do you mean staged in a modern setting?" Jessie asked. "It's already been done."

"No. I mean the whole play to be totally rewritten and updated. _Antony and Cleopatra _could be _Tony and Cleo_; _Julius Caesar_ could be _Jules C_. The language would be simplified. For example, the whole soliloquy from _Hamlet_ would be shortened to "Should I kill myself or not? Or should I pretend to be mad so that I can expose who knocked off my dad?" Another example, could be the line "Friends, Romans, Countrymen. Lend me your ears." How about we rewrite it as 'Yo, everybody! Listen to me!'"

"I think it sounds better the way it was originally written," Veronica ventured.

****************

Tracey was bored stiff. The girls had found a boutique which offered a special package for Convention visitors. You could hire four to five gowns for an affordable price. They had been in there for at least half an hour and still some of the girls were rushing in and out of the cubicles trying on different dresses.

The fact that he was handcuffed to Karlie had presented a rather interesting problem at first. How was Karlie going to try on dresses whilst still handcuffed to the Pokémon Watcher? The easiest solution would have been for Chuchino to simply unlock the handcuffs - but she point blank refused to do that. Despite assurances that he would not run away at the first opportunity, Karlie declared that she had invested too much time, effort and money into this 'Get Tracey scheme' to let him go. So he stayed handcuffed. 

There was no way that he could stay _outside_ the change cubicle, so he would have to go _inside_ with her. The solution on how to prevent him from seeing things he shouldn't was presented when Trish walked up to him and yanked his bandanna down over his eyes.

So that was how he found himself sitting blindfolded in a cubicle, listening to the rustle of different fabrics and the comments of James and the girls. Even though he couldn't see a thing, he still felt extremely embarrassed at what he overheard. Comments like; "Does this dress make my butt look big?"; "This side split comes up pretty high, you can't see my underwear can you?" and "That dress is a bit _too_ low cut, don't you think?"

Tracey nearly died with embarrassment at hearing the last question. What he found even more distressing was the image that came into his mind at that very moment. _Curse you , Brock_, his mind screamed. _Now **I'm** thinking like **you**!_

*****************

Meanwhile, Brock was completely unaware that Tracey was trying to utter a curse on him. As far as the Pewter City Gym Leader was concerned, he was already cursed with bad luck. After taking his leave from Ash and Gary, he had run into Luana. He had managed to extricate himself from her vice-like grip and then sped off. But Luana took that to mean he wanted to play games, and so pursued him. He was currently hiding behind a large pole outside the Stadium, in the hope that she would lose track of him. Ten minutes later, he peeked out to see if the coast was clear when……

"BROCKY BABY!"

He fled. Again. _I wish I could use 'Agility'……._

*****************

Gary stood with Ash, Pikachu and Meowth to the side of the small stage. He watched as technicians erected a large screen on the stage behind his grandfather who was sorting through some notes at the microphone. "Hey, guys," a voice came from behind them. They turned to see Danny and Drake from the Orange Crew standing there. "Mind if we joined you?" Drake asked.

"Of course not," Ash grinned.

"What's your grandfather speaking on today?" Danny asked.

Gary shrugged. "I have no idea," he admitted, then turned to his best friend. "Do you?"

Ash thought for a minute. "Yeah, I do. It's called "Back Then" and it's a slide show featuring childhood photos of some of the Gym Leaders, the Elite Four and so on. It was an idea of the Professor's and Agatha's."

Gary did not like the sound of that one little bit. "I don't suppose you know exactly _whose_ photos are going to be shown?" 

His best friend shook his head. "No I don't. But knowing my Mom, there's guaranteed to be some of me in there."

Ten minutes into the speech, Gary allowed himself to relax. So far, so good - there had been none of his photos shown. There had been some of Ash's, just as his friend predicted. _Maybe, just maybe, _Gary thought to himself, _I can get through the day without somebody I know, embarrassing me._

But it was not to be. The next picture flashed on the screen and Gary froze in horror. There, on the screen was a picture of a child dressed as Bo Peep for a school play. Brown eyes peeked out from under a pink bonnet and brown ringlets fanned out around the base. The child was wearing an old fashioned pink dress with a hooped skirt that was adorned with dainty frills and bows. 

"What a pretty little girl," the Professor commented then peered at his notes. He blinked then looked again. "Oh my," he murmured. "Believe it or not, that 'girl' is my grandson, Gary - aged seven."

There were various gasps and murmurs of disbelief and amazement from the crowd. Gary went beet red and elbowed Ash in the ribs. "Did you put Gramps up to this?" he hissed.

Ash glared at him as he rubbed his ribs. "No I did not!" he shot back

"I don't remember anything about this photo," the aging researcher admitted. "But I know somebody who probably does." He turned to the side where the young men were standing. "Ash, could you come up here please?"

The Pokémon Master stumbled onto the stage as a result of Gary trying to hold him back while Drake, Danny, Meowth and Pikachu pushed him forward.

The Professor smiled at his former student. "Can you tell us the story behind this picture?" 

"Er..sure. When we were in primary school together, our class had to put on a play for the whole school. Our teacher decided on the nursery rhyme 'Little Bo Peep'. To cut a long story short, one of the girls was chosen to play Bo Peep - but Gary wanted to be the star, and insisted that _he'd_ make a much better Bo Peep than she ever could. So he turned up the next day in one of his sister's dresses and a brown wig and put on a very convincing performance as a girl. So the teacher ended up giving him the lead role. I was one of the sheep."

Gary wanted to shrivel up and die. This was so _humiliating_! He refused to look at anybody, for fear of seeing the broad grins that he just _knew_ would be there.

The next picture was just as bad. It showed Gary standing there in his swimmers holding a vine.

"Now that was not long after we had watched _Tarzan_ on video," Ash continued. "We were six at the time and Gary announced that he was going to be the next Tarzan. So a group of us boys went out into the woods in the Professor's Research Reserve, and found a tall tree with some vines hanging off it. Gary climbed up to the highest branch, grabbed a strong vine, jumped off ….and slammed into the nearest tree. Luckily he wasn't hurt, only a bit stunned. Someone in the group, I can't remember exactly who, said at the time that Gary was more like 'George of the Jungle' than Tarzan. So for a while there, he was known as 'Gary of the Jungle.'"

By now, Gary was trying his hardest to ignore the chuckles of the two Orange League Gym Leaders behind him, and the two Pokémon beside him. Meowth and Pikachu had collapsed on the floor with laughter, rolling around and clutching their sides. _Just wait until I get my hands on whoever put those photos in there_!

**************

Erina sat outside the Stadium, basking in the afternoon sun. It had been a good day so far, she had found everything she needed for the dance tomorrow night, and now she had some free time in which to work on her new romance novel which she hoped one day to get published. The brunette started to write but then lost herself in thinking about the upcoming dances. 

She was getting really excited about attending them. She would get to wear a beautiful dress, have her hair and makeup done, and dance with some cute guys. Erina wondered if she would see her secret admirer there. If so, what would he look like? Would he be tall, dark and handsome? Would she be swept off her feet? 

Riny shook her head. She sounded like the heroine out of one of the romance novels she was so fond of. Riny was the first to admit that she was a hopeless romantic, and that showed in her stories she wrote for the Internet. Almost every single one of them was a romance.

"Excuse me."

She looked up to see a young man around her age standing before her, dressed in a light blue shirt and black shorts. He had short dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. _He's cute_, she thought.

"Do you mind if I sit down?"

"No, not at all," she said, trying not to sound too eager. _He's **really** cute. Such a nice voice too._

"Thank you," he sat down then looked at her with a smile. "Your name's Erina, am I right?"

"That's right," she confirmed, slightly taken aback. How did he know her name? 

"My name's Florian. But my family and friends call me Flory," he introduced himself. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"It's a pleasure to meet you too. But how did you know my name?"

He reddened a bit but then answered. "Um, well you see…I've sort of been watching you from a distance since the Convention began." _That's almost the full truth,_ he thought.

Riny was about to yell at him for being a stalker when another thought occurred to her. "Were you the one responsible for leaving a rose on my pillow?"

"Yes."

Erina couldn't believe her luck. This cute guy was her secret admirer! "So how did you manage to get it into my room?"

Flory nearly choked. What should he say? "Uh, well I have…an Abra…and it...um teleported ..the rose into your room," he stuttered, hoping desperately that she wouldn't press him any further.

She smiled at him. "That was really sweet of you."

Flory nearly melted.

******************

Meanwhile, at the _Cyndaquil Café_ Arrow was busy chatting with a young man that she had just sat down with. Make that sat down _on_. She was trying to get used to these new shoes for tomorrow night by walking around in them. But a busy café is not the best place to practise, so when someone passed her, she lost her balance and sat down on this boy's lap.

Thoroughly embarrassed, she had introduced herself with a sheepish smile and assured him that she was not always this klutzy. He just smiled broadly, then told her that he was rather prone to being a klutz himself. His name was Puck.

******************

It was early evening when Erina returned to her room. She flopped on the bed happily. She and Flory had talked for ages, and it seemed like they had lots in common. He then walked her back to her hotel room, and in a perfect finish to a perfect day, he had asked if he would be seeing her at the dance tomorrow night.

Flory was funny, sweet and considerate. In fact he seemed to be everything that Riny had dreamed of in a secret admirer. A line from a song flashed into her mind which described the situation perfectly. '_I think I dreamed you into life.'_

__

To be continued……

Author's Note: As I said before, this chapter was posted for Riny's birthday. May all your dreams come true…. ^_^ _ . Just a note about the chocolates - those Belgian truffles are the BEST! They are so creamy inside and just melt in your mouth….wish I had a box right now. As for the Shakespeare thing - I admit I am a bit of a purist. If I'm going to see a Shakespearean play, I want to see it done traditionally. _

R & R peeps - flamers get fed to my Tassie Devils. Next chapter, the first of the dances at Indigo Plateau begin!

Pokémon 3 just opened here in Australia yesterday. Looking forward to seeing it next week. 


	10. Chapter Nine: Oh, What A Night.

Midsummer Dreams __

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Pokémon or Puck or William Shakespeare. I do own the storyline and Callie. The chapter title comes from a song from the same (I think) by KC and the Sunshine Band (again - I think this is correct). But don't quote me on that, all I know is that it was from the 70s. It was played on the radio the other day - and it stuck in my head _ . Anyway it's a kind of upbeat, disco-y thing - so rather appropriate for a dance, don't you think?

__

A/N: This Chapter is dedicated to Mia (Arrow). To say thank you for her inspiration on the events of "Midsummer Dreams." If you've read Arrow's latest story "Les Amies et Aime" - you will know that we hold marathon chat sessions on MSN. It's become a regular habit. ^_^ We exchanged Muses for a few days too. The results were interesting to say the least. O_o Also please do not take this fic too seriously - it is a romantic comedy. One of my reviewers is having trouble remembering that. 

Chapter Nine: Oh, What A Night!

Ash gazed at the scene before him. The enormous Ball Room in the Function Centre was a hive of activity in preparation for the dances. The first of which was to be held that very night. 

The function organiser had two different teams of both humans and Pokémon under his supervision. The first team was in charge of placing and setting the tables for the dinner. The other team was in charge of the decorations - placing the floral arrangements, the streamers, the ribbons etc. In a nearby corner, two men were preoccupied with the task of inflating thousands of gold and silver helium balloons, some of which were already floating in the space above the vast dance floor.

The caterers were rushing back and forth with silverware, china and glasses as the head chef went through a final confirmation of the dinner menu with the function director.

Technicians were checking the lighting for the dance floor while the DJ and his crew set up the sound equipment.

"Wow, dis is gonna be so fantastic," Meowth murmured in amazement from his position by Ash's feet. He, Ash, Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Chikorita had stopped by for a sneak peek while on their way to give the babies some fresh air and exercise.

__

"Pikaaaaaa," Pikachu voiced her agreement before she had to run off after one of her errant offspring.

"Sure is," Ash stated. "Anyway, this company handles all the official League functions so they're used to it."

There were two gentle tugs on his trouser legs. The Pokémon Master looked down to see Eddie and Ellie, the two baby Phanpys at his feet. "_Phan!_" they trumpeted.

"What is it?"

"_Phanpy phan phy phanpy_." Ellie waved her little trunk towards the men with the balloons.

"Dey wanta know if dey can help da men dere wid the balloons," Meowth translated.

"I suppose so," Ash said rather doubtfully. But you must ask the men first."

"_Phy!"_ The two baby Pokémon nodded their heads and waddled towards the workers. Meowth went with them. Ash watched with a smile as the cat relayed their request to the men, who grinned then handed the two a bunch of balloons each. Eddie and Ellie carefully grasped the strings with their trunks. The two Phanpys made their way to the dance floor, where they released the balloons, and watched as they floated up to the ceiling. 

A startled squeak drew his attention back to the workers. One of the Pichus had scampered over to the men, and had been handed a balloon to hold. However, the Pichu was only light, so the balloon rose to the ceiling, taking the Pokémon with it. Ash rushed over to where the tiny baby was hanging on for dear life. "Don't worry, I've got you," he soothed the terrified creature as he gently rescued it from it's precarious perch.

"_Pi_." He held the baby close, and the trembling Pichu burrowed its head into the crook of his arms. Pikachu scampered into Ash's arms and soothed her baby with soft "_Pikas."_

"We'd better get going before anyone else decides to get into trouble," Ash decided. 

"Right," Meowth agreed. Pikachu, Chikorita and Bulbasaur rounded all the babies up as Meowth ticked off the names on a little clipboard he carried with him.

Ash stared at the cat. "What's with the clipboard, Meowth?"

"How else do ya expect me to keep track of dem babies?" Meowth replied as he ran his eye down the list of names. "Dis way I can keep track of all of dem."

They made their way to a small clearing in the forest near the Headquarters Building. Ash sat down on the grass as the babies ran off to play, with Meowth shouting out that they were not to go too far. Chikorita and Bulbasaur followed to keep an eye on them.

Soon it was only Pikachu and Meowth who remained at his side. The Grand Master lay on his back, and gazed up at the clear blue sky, as Pikachu curled up in a small ball on his stomach. "This, is the life," he murmured contentedly.

"Ya got dat right," Meowth purred. "And dis Convention has been a great success! Ya done good."

"I guess so," Ash concurred. "It's just that……"

"_Just what?_" asked Pikachu.

"I can't get over all the odd things that have been happening." Ash explained. "Like what happened at the _Chateau Plateau_."

"And Misty and Daisy's strange behaviour," Meowth added.

"That too." The dark-haired trainer agreed. He wished he knew what was the cause behind all these strange incidents. And how was it that he _always_ seemed to become involved somehow? His mother said that he seemed to have a special knack for attracting trouble out of thin air…..

Oh well, there was no use getting stressed over it. He decided to stay where he was for a while. Perhaps take a nap, play with the babies….anything to wile away the time until it was necessary to head back to get ready for tonight's dance. It was also a good excuse to avoid Brock, who had been jabbering non-stop all yesterday about how on earth was he going to avoid dancing with Luana. He closed his eyes and started to drift…..

**************

Drake walked along the leafy boulevard that stretched alongside the Stadium and the Headquarters Building. It was a nice warm summer's day and the weather promised to stay that way for the evening's festivities. The Head of the Orange League was passing a small park when he thought he saw a familiar female figure sitting on one of the park benches. He walked closer to see that it was indeed Trish as he had first thought.

He approached her from behind, but she did not even turn around. Not even when he stepped on a dry twig. Either she (a)didn't like him and was ignoring him; (b)she was deaf; or (c)she was deeply absorbed in something. He tapped her on the shoulder. "Hello, Trish."

He didn't expect the reaction he got. She shot up about a foot in the air with a startled yelp scattering a book from her lap and landed on the grass in a rather undignified fashion. Drake couldn't help but chuckle at the situation. Gasping from a combination of fright and shock, she brushed a strand of hair that had fallen in her face and glared at him. "Don't do _that_ to me!" she hissed, rubbing her back.

"Do what?" He walked over to where she was sitting.

"Sneak up on me like that," Trish grumbled. "Nearly gave me a heart attack."

Drake helped her to her feet and she brushed the grass from her skirt. "I wasn't trying to scare you, I thought you would have heard me approaching."

"Well, I didn't. And I got the fright of my life." The young woman then bent down to retrieve her book. As she straightened up, she gave him a rueful smile. "However it was my fault too. I was reading a good book."

They sat down on the park bench. "If it's a good book, I lose myself in it. The whole world can just disappear," Trish explained further.

"What's the book?"

"_The Fist of God_ by Frederick Forsyth."

The two sat in silence for about two minutes. "So," Drake began. "Are you going to be attending the dance tonight?"

"Yes, I am."

"Will I get to see you there?"

There was an amused twinkle in her eyes. "In other words, you're asking me to be your date?"

"Uh..yeah."

"I'd love to," she smiled.

Drake gave a inward sigh of relief. "So where do I meet you?"

"I'll be getting ready for the dance with a whole group of friends, so I'd say at the venue."

"Inside near the door?"

"Fine with me."

What will you be wearing?"

"Black."

"That's it, then." The Gym Leader stood up and stretched. "You okay from that spill you took earlier?"

"I'm fine, just a bit sore at the moment. Nothing that a long hot bath won't fix."

Drake grinned. "At least I didn't tickle you."

Trish looked at him. "How do you know I'm ticklish?"

"The pillow fight."

"Oh." She nodded her head. When she looked back up at him there was a mischievous grin on her face. "If I remember rightly, you find that when dogs lick you, it tickles…"

"That's right."

The dark-haired girl released two Growlithe puppies - one male and one female. They sat with their tails wagging at their mistress's feet. "Okay, Hamlet and Ophelia. See that nice man standing behind you?" The puppies turned and regarded Drake with their big brown eyes. "He said that you two were the _cutest_ puppies he ever saw. How about you two give him a few licks on the face to say thank you?"

The two puppies were only too happy to oblige, and so Drake found himself on the ground under the combined licking assault of the two Pokémon, and trying his hardest not to split his sides laughing. And failing miserably.

Trish then recalled the two puppies. "That's enough, Hamlet, Ophie. Come here." The Growlithes bounded over to receive a pat on the head before they were returned. She then walked over to where Drake had sat up to recover. "Now, we're even," she giggled as she held out her hand to help him up.

He took her hand and raised himself up on one knee. Suddenly there was a delighted squeal from their right. A young brunette rushed towards them and flung her arms around his female companion. "Oh Congratulations!" she squealed. "But why didn't you tell _me_ anything? When's the big day?"

A slightly blushing Trish detached herself from her friend's embrace. "It's not what you think!" she said quickly. "Ah, Drake. I'd like you to meet my good friend Mia. But everyone calls her Arrow." Arrow waved her hand in greeting with a huge grin plastered on her face.

"Arrow, this is Drake."

"Hi. Nice to meet you."

"Hamlet and Ophie knocked him over, and I was just helping him up."

Arrow shot her older friend a look that plainly said _'Yeah, right_.' "Sure."

"Believe me they did," Drake confirmed. Arrow still didn't look convinced.

"What's up, Arrow?" Trish asked.

"Jenn sent me to remind you that our appointments with the hairdressers are in twenty minutes."

The young woman grabbed her bag and book from the bench. "Better start on our way, then."

Drake smiled in farewell, "See you later tonight." 

"See you," Trish waved then dragged a still grinning Arrow away with her.

***************

__

Later that evening….

"I'm not nervous, I'm not nervous, I'm _not _nervous!" Puck muttered to himself as he paced back and forth along the tree branch. 

Flory rolled his eyes. "Calm _down_, Puck," he stated - then resumed _his _pacing.

"Calm down," Puck said with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "You've been pacing just as long as I have - and you're telling _me_ to calm _down_?"

The reason for the cousins' nervousness was that - in a little under two hours, they would be attending a dance in _human_ forms in order to be with the girls they had fallen in love with.

Flory slumped onto a small bump. "Let's just face the facts. We're nervous."

Puck soon joined him. "This is the most important event in our lives."

"I'll probably say something wrong."

"And I'll mess something up. I nearly always do."

"Erina's gonna hate me by the end of the evening."

"Arrow's gonna hate _me_."

The two cousins exchanged a glance. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Flory asked.

"I think I am."

"We're _doomed_!" they wailed in unison.

****************

'_Wild Women do, and they don't regret it.'_ Erina grinned as Trish and Jenn grabbed their hairbrushes and sang along to the words on the _Pretty Woman_ soundtrack that was playing. She, Arrow, Rachel and Karlie were preparing for the dance in Trish and Jenn's room. Tracey was there too, not that he had any choice about it, seeing as he was still handcuffed to Karlie. The Pokémon Watcher had been allowed to change first as the whole group turned their backs, although a protesting Karlie had to be blindfolded first.

Then it was the girls' turn and Tracey had the blindfold tied securely in place. Somehow they managed to get Karlie into her dress without having to undo the handcuffs. Not that she would have let them take them off anyway….

Erina started to feel the excitement creeping in as she gazed at her friends rushing around, putting on makeup, perfume, jewellery and checking their hair. All of them looked so different - much older and more glamorous. 

Erina looked very pretty in lilac, with her hair swept up on both sides with the rest hanging loose at the back. Rachel was in pale yellow, Karlie in light blue. In contrast the three remaining girls were in stronger colours. Jenn was in a deep purple halter neck dress, Trish in an off the shoulder black gown with her long raven hair swept up in an elegant French Twist; and Arrow in an emerald green one with spaghetti straps, which brought out the colour of her eyes.

"So who's this Puck guy, Arrow?" Trish asked as she fastened an amethyst pendant around her neck.

"He's this guy I met at the _Cyndaquil Café_," Arrow replied.

"How did you meet him?" Erina was curious.

Arrow went slightly red. "I kinda sat on his lap by accident."

"You _sat_ on him?"

"Well, I was wearing these heels at the time," Arrow protested. "And I can't walk very well in them."

"Puck's an unusual name," Jenn mused.

Trish nodded her head. "Sounds like a character out of a Shakespeare play."

*******************

Ash stood at the edge of the dance floor and gazed at the partying crowds with satisfaction. The dinner had gone smoothly, and there was a real festive atmosphere among the revellers. He noted with a smile that his mom and step-dad were dancing together and enjoying themselves. He made a mental note to have a few dances with his mother before the night was over.

Duplica and Todd were dancing close together as was Brock and this girl called Veronica. He had grabbed her from the crowd as soon as he had seen Luana come towards him. But so far, Veronica seemed to be enjoying herself. Ash just hoped that Brock's night would not end in a slap, as was the usual case.

A pair of slender arms wrapped around his waist. "Hey, Ash."

He turned to gather Misty in his arms with a passionate kiss. "Enjoying yourself?" he asked when they parted for breath.

"Enormously," she smiled. "Shall we dance?"

He smiled back, "Lead the way." And followed her onto the dance floor.

*****************

Arrow sang along happily with the music as she watched the crowds from one of the tables that lined the dance floor. The sea of black tuxedos was occasionally broken with the glimpse of glittering colourful evening dresses. "_Oh, What A Night"_ was currently blasting over the sound system and the dancers were having the time of their lives.

The night was going really well, she reflected. She and Puck were getting along like a house on fire - except for one time when she tripped in these stupid heels she was wearing, onto a handsome young man by the name of Mikey. In fact she had been so captivated by Mikey's dark eyes that she almost forgot about her date standing behind her, tapping his foot.

Jenn and Gary Oak, Vickie and Giovanni were sitting at the table with her and Puck, and Drake had gone off to get some more drinks. She scanned the crowd for the rest of her friends. Trish was dancing with a good friend of hers, Russell, in order to tease him about Cissy and Prima. Rachel was dancing with Richie, and Erina and Florian had not been out of each other's sights since they met.

Arrow saw Jenn look at something behind her and utter a soft groan. She twisted in her seat to see Rudy come up to their table. "Where's….." he began, but was immediately cut off by Jenn.

"She's dancing with a friend. And I wouldn't bother asking her if I were you, because she's not interested," she stated bluntly.

"Well, she should be," Rudy declared. "Why's she dancing with a nobody like him, when she could dance with me?" He started towards where Trish was.

"Oh, he is such an arrogant slime!" Arrow seethed quietly to her date. "I wish something could be done to teach him a lesson."

Puck gave her a funny look. "Really?" he enquired.

"_Really_."

Arrow turned her attention back to the dance floor. She thought she heard Puck mutter something under his breath, but wasn't too sure what it was. Suddenly Rudy became engulfed in a blinding white light, and when everyone's eyesight had returned, all they saw….was a Muk.

The Orange Crew as well as Ash and Gary all rushed over to the Pokémon. 

"Is …that _Rudy_?" Cissy asked as she wrinkled her nose at the smell.

"It _can't_ be," Gary shook his head. "People just don't turn into Pokémon."

"It _could _be." Ash rebutted his best friend. "Because where's Rudy?"

"One way to find out," Drake muttered as he walked over to the DJ. He whispered something to the DJ, who nodded. Soon the beat of "_Saturday Night Fever" _by the BeeGeescame through the speakers. The Pokémon began to move its arms rhythmically from side to side and spun a few times on the spot.

"Yep," Danny nodded slowly. "That's Rudy all right."

He turned to his colleagues. "Anyone got a spare Pokéball on them?"

*****************

Erina and Flory walked out through the French doors onto the large stone verandah outside the Function Centre. The young couple leaned against the wide stone railing as they gazed at the leafy valley below the Plateau. Erina lifted her eyes to the sky. Thousands of little stars twinkled and glistened like diamonds on the black velvet backdrop of the night sky.

The whole effect was magical. This whole evening had been magical. She had been a bit nervous when she first met Florian again - it turned out that he was just as nervous as she was. After that, both had relaxed, and Erina could truthfully say that she had never had so much fun at a dance before.

She felt really comfortable and relaxed with Flory. They had chatted about anything and everything - tonight had only reinforced the very good impression she had of him. The dark-haired boy had completely won her over the first day they met, and tonight she had fallen for him. Did he feel the same way about her?

After a few minutes silence the petite brunette straightened up. "Shall we go back inside?"

"Sure." As they headed towards the doors, they heard the DJ announce the next song. "And here's a nice slow one for all you boys and girls."

Flory turned to her with a smile and bowed low. "May I have this dance?"

"Here?"

"Why not?"

Erina couldn't find fault with that, so she let him take her hand and hold her around the waist. The beautiful strains of the melody began wafting out of the speakers as they began to dance.

__

When I fall in love

Erina's heart began to beat loudly as she recognised the words to the song that defined the movie _Sleepless In Seattle_. Her grey-green eyes were met with his dark brown ones and their gazes locked.

__

It will be forever…

Her breath caught in her throat as they moved ever so closer, until their lips met in a gentle kiss.

__

Or I'll never give my heart….

To be continued…..

Author's Note: _From here until the end of this fic (at 12 Chapters)- expect more romance, peeps! If you don't like it or the story - then go away. Flamers are fed to my Tassie Devils. _

The title as I said - comes from song that got stuck in my head. I don't know all the words. It goes something like "Oh what a night. Late December back in '63," and "What a very special time for me. I remember what a night." As well as "What a lady, what a night." Very appropriate for a dance. One word of warning - I'm going rather retro with the songs. ^_^ The song at the end comes from one of the ultimate chick flicks "Sleepless In Seattle" and is sung by Clive Griffin & Celine Dion. Fluffy, mushy and romantic especially for Riny.

I really can get so absorbed in something like a book that I'm not aware of anything else. As a result - I get quite a shock if someone taps me on the shoulder. ^_^

I call the pairing of Arrow & Puck - Klutzshipping.

Next Chapter - Calliope returns! Puck & Flory had better watch out!


	11. Chapter Ten: Don't Blame It On The Moonl...

Midsummer Dreams __

Midsummer Dreams.

By Trish.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, or William Shakespeare. I do own the storyline, Calliope, Florian and anyone I made up. Puck's name belongs to Shakespeare - but his characterisation is mine. I also don't own any of the songs that I mention throughout the chapter. 'Nuff said.

__

A/N: _It's Party time at the Plateau! As such - this deserves a bit of a soundtrack. "Dancing Queen" and "Mamma Mia" by ABBA, "Blame It On The Boogie" by The Jacksons, "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor (Told ya I was going retro ^_~), "Mambo No. 5" by Lou Bega, "Absolutely Everybody" by Vanessa Amorosi, "If You Can Read My Mind" by Stars On 54. Oh and of course "Oh, What A Night". It's STILL stuck in my head…._

Many thanks go to Mia for her suggestions and inspiration. I'd also like to dedicate this to (although he won't know it) the newest member of my family - my nephew Peter. Born 5 weeks early, he's the first child of my brother and his wife. He has yet to come out of the hospital - we're hoping he will soon. 

Chapter Ten: Don't Blame It On The Moonlight…..

The morning sunlight streamed in through the gap in the curtains as Ash slowly stirred in his bed. He opened his eyes blearily to check the time on his alarm clock. 9:30am. He sat up and saw Pikachu along with all her family, start to move inside her basket.

"Morning, Pik," he greeted his favourite Pokémon as she lifted her little head up.

"_Morning Pikapi,_" she answered as she began to wash the nearest sleeping fur ball with her tongue. The fur ball trembled and one little black eye regarded his mother with a sleepy little "_Pi_?"The baby uncurled and crawled closer to his mother, and tried not to squirm as she continued licking him.

"_Did you sleep well_?"

"I did." The Grand Master bent over to pick up a Pichu that was scrabbling at the side of the bed. "Despite the fact that I didn't get to sleep until 3 am."

He held the Pichu up to his face, "Poppy?" he ventured hesitantly.

The baby grinned and licked his face. "_Pichupi_!" she squeaked happily. He placed her on his lap and started to scratch her behind the ears. "_Piiiiiiiiiiichu_" she purred in utter contentment.

"_Last night was fun, wasn't it_?" Pikachu said as she moved onto the next Pichu.

Her best human friend smiled. "It sure was." The dance had been extremely successful. And apart from what happened to Rudy, the Trovita Island Gym Leader - nothing else had gone wrong. The crowds had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and the majority had partied on until the early hours of the morning - Ash and his usual crowd included.

Ash and Misty had spent most of the evening either dancing or kissing under the stars. He also managed to keep the promise he had made earlier that evening - to have a few dances with his beloved mother. He also danced once with Katrina, and once with Jessie.

Gary had spent the night conversing with Jenn and her friend Trish, Drake, Giovanni and his date Vickie. When loud laughter had come from that table, Ash had looked over to see his best friend holding a balloon in front of him - and he knew what he had done. Gary had inhaled some of the helium and then proceeded to talk in a high pitched squeaky voice to his companions.

Even Tracey had loosened up enough to have a good time. When he had first arrived in tow with Karlie, he had looked rather uptight and uncomfortable. But as the evening went on, he had relaxed enough to talk affably with his captor.

And Brock….it looked like Brock had finally succeeded in not being rejected by a pretty girl. Veronica had not slapped him at the end of their first dance, and had stayed talking to him the rest of the evening. Maybe, just maybe..Brock might have found someone who _liked_ him back.

He grinned at the memory and rose out of bed. Today he would have to deal with the matter of Rudy who was now a Pokémon. To see if it was possible to turn him back into a human. But in all honesty, Ash would not mind one bit if the Gym Leader stayed as a Muk. He had never really liked the guy anyway…..

***************

Arrow looked around the large group of tired but happy faces surrounding her at breakfast in the _Cyndaquil Café. _The usual crowd had been complimented by the addition of some of the dates from last night. Vickie was having fun tweaking Giovanni's tie into its proper place, Trish and Jenn were accompanied by Drake and Gary; Karlie and Tracey (as usual); Rachel and Richie. Only Erina and herself were without their dates, but Puck had promised to spend the day with her, and from the looks on Erina's dreamy face - Flory would be too.

The brunette cast her mind back to last night's dance. She had so much fun with Puck and her friends - everyone had sung along to the music that played over the sound system. 

The medley of songs from _Grease_ had come on, and the girls had gone to one side and the guys the other. And Arrow and Puck had led the crowd by singing the lead vocals from "_Summer Loving"_ right through to "_You're The One That I Want." _The two had then been complimented on their singing abilities by the other revellers.

The whole night, Arrow reflected, had been FUN. And she was looking forward to the second dance which was scheduled for tomorrow night.

****************

Ash was re-reading the report into the _Chateau Plateau_ incident as he sat in his office waiting for Jessie to arrive. She wanted him to meet their house guest who had been staying with them ever since she had found him wandering about lost at the Convention in the first week.

He laid the report on his desk next to the new one on Rudy, as well as a small pad of paper upon which Misty's strange behaviour had been noted down.

These strange and unexplained happenings were really bugging him. They appeared to be all separate incidents, but the Pokémon Master could not shake the feeling that they were all linked in some way. Either by something or someone….but who or what he couldn't say.

A knock at the door brought him out of his reverie. "Come in," he called as he rose from his chair.

Jessie entered the office with a smile, followed by a man in his late thirties who was dressed in a red shirt and blue jeans. "Hi Ash," his personal manager greeted him cheerfully.

"Hi, Jess" he greeted the tall red-head in a like tone. "Recovered from last night?"

"Yeah. And you?"

"Yes." Ash walked around the side of his desk and smiled at her dark-haired companion. "This must be Mr. Speare."

Jessie did the introductions. "Ash, I'd like you to meet Bill Speare. Bill, I'd like you to meet my good friend and boss, Ash Ketchum, the reigning Pokémon Grand Master."

The two men shook hands. "I've heard a lot about you, Bill," Ash said with a easy smile.

"And I've heard a lot about you too, Ash," Bill answered.

"So you're from England."

"That's right."

"Must have been a long flight to come here."

Bill looked a little puzzled. "Er, no. I just appeared here." He snapped his fingers together, "Just like that."

The dark-haired Pokémon Master raised an eyebrow at this. "You just _appeared_?"

"It's the truth!" Bill protested. "I know this sounds like absolute rubbish, but it really _did_ happen like that. One minute I was at my home in England, and the next thing I knew I was here."

"It's okay, Bill. I believe you. I really do," the younger man reassured him with a lopsided grin.

"You…do?"

"Yes." Ash sat down on the edge of the desk. "My mother says that I've always had this talent for becoming involved in incidents where weird things occur. You wouldn't _believe_ some of the things that have happened to me." He paused for a minute. "Jess has told me that you write for a living."

"I do." Bill then spotted a book lying to one side on the desk and picked it up. He smiled. "I see that you're reading some of my works."

Ash and Jessie looked at Bill, looked at the book, and back at Bill again. "Uh…what do you mean _your_ work? That's a book of William Shakespeare's plays," Ash pointed out.

Bill grinned even wider. "I meant what I said. That _is _a book of _my_ writings. My full name is William Shakespeare."

Both his listener's eyes widened in shock. Jessie sat down abruptly on the couch while Ash grabbed the edge of the desk for support.

"You…you..mean..you're _the_ William Shakespeare?" Jessie managed to squeak.

Bill nodded.

"The Shakespeare who wrote "_Julius Caesar_"?" Ash questioned. "'Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears' Shakespeare?"

"That's me," Bill said proudly. He turned to Jessie with a slight frown, "Though, despite what you and Roni said the other day, Jess. I still feel like changing that line to 'Yo, Everybody.'"

Jessie just stared at him. "You _can't_ be William Shakespeare," she breathed.

"Well I am. Try me."

So they questioned him about his plays, sonnets and about his life. Bill not only recited whole plays but got all the questions right as well as provided details about Elizabethan England that was not to be found in history books.

Ash walked back behind his desk and sank down into his chair, looking rather shell shocked. "What in the world is happening here?" he muttered weakly. "I have the entire guest population of the _Chateau Plateau_ being moved around in their sleep; Misty is being _far too_ placid and nice; Daisy is too smart; Rudy is a Muk. And now…now I have William Shakespeare standing here alive and well in my office."

*****************

The next day was warm and the blue sky crystal clear, as Ash (accompanied as usual by Pikachu and Meowth) made his way to the _Cyndaquil Café_. He adjusted the collar of his dark blue short sleeved shirt as he walked, enjoying the warmth of the sun on his bare arms.

He was a man with a mission. He had spent yesterday evening in seclusion - trying to work out why all these strange things had happened at the Convention, and why he had a nagging feeling that he'd been through a similar situation once before.

He had gone to bed early, in the hope that a good night's sleep might help him to solve this problem - and it had. Ash could recall the incidents of two years ago, when a lost sprite named Puck had wreaked so much havoc in the name of having fun. What he _couldn't _remember was the exact name of the fairy that had helped him collar the little imp.

Oh, it was easy enough to remember what she looked like - after the way she had appeared in his bedroom one morning. But for the life of him, he couldn't pinpoint her name. So he was going to see a person whom he had heard much about. Even if they couldn't tell him the answer, at least they might be able to jog his memory a bit.

Upon entering the café he scanned the crowds, and found the person he was looking for. He weaved his way through the tables to where a brown-haired woman was happily chatting to the Viridian City Gym Leader Giovanni., every once in while straightening his tie for him.

He gave a discreet cough to gain their attention. The two looked up and Giovanni grinned rather sheepishly. "Oh, hi Ash. Did you want to see me?"

"No. Actually it's your companion, the Advice Guru that I want to see." 

"Okay." The Earth Badge Leader rose from the table. "I'll leave you two alone then. See you later, Vickie."

Vickie smiled and kissed him on the cheek, making the man blush. "See you later, Vanni."

The Grand Master gave a little smirk as the Gym Leader passed him. "_Vanni_?"

Giovanni sighed. "Women and their nicknames…"

He moved off and Ash sat down in the seat that Vickie had indicated.

"Well," the woman smiled warmly. "This is a real honour. Never thought I'd see the day when the Pokémon Grand Master would be asking _me_ for advice."

Ash gave a slight chuckle and ran a hand through his thick dark hair. "There's a first time for everything - and I'm not sure if you _can_ help me."

"We'll just have to see."

So Ash told Vickie all he knew. About what had been happening at the Convention and his suspicions that it was linked to the events of two years ago. Vickie listened intently, nodding once in a while to indicate that she had understood.

"You see, the thing is - I can't remember her name," Ash finished off. "I've got a vague idea - I'm sure it's something like Molly or Holly, it could even be Sally."

Vickie brightened up. "Oh you mean, Calliope. Or Callie for short."

Ash snapped his fingers in recognition. "Yeah that's it! Calliope!" He stopped, then stared at the woman opposite. "How did you know that?"

"Oh, the name just popped into my head," she said quickly. "Lucky guess."

He smiled and rose from the table. "Well, it came at the right time." He shook her hand. "Thank you for all your help, Vickie."

"No problem."

After he left, Vickie let out a sigh of relief. "Luckily for me, I've read _Midsummer Dreams_," she muttered.

******************

__

Later that night….

Arrow gingerly rubbed her ankles as she rested her tired feet. The second dance was well underway and she was taking a break from trying to walk in these _stupid_ high heels she was wearing. How anybody was supposed to be able to walk well in these shoes supported by _sticks_ was beyond her. 

All her friends all seemed to be able to do it - and therefore, so should she. But try as she might - she still tripped up on them every so often. Fortunately for her, Puck was a very understanding type of guy - as he was a bit of a klutz himself, and tolerated her toppling into other men's arms pretty well.

The young woman smoothed down the silken folds of her red evening gown. She was very pleased with this outfit, which was slightly off the shoulder and fitted at the bodice, then flowed down to her ankles. Her long brown hair was swept up in a loose bun. Two soft tendrils of hair hung loose on each side. When she had looked in the mirror earlier that evening, she had a hard time believing that it was really _her_ that she was seeing.

Her friends were all out on the dance floor, enjoying themselves. "_Blame It On The Boogie_" was blasting over the speakers and the crowds were relaxed. Trish and Drake were dancing alongside Jenn and Gary - and Arrow thought that the two older girls looked really elegant. Trish was dressed in a halter neck gown of a deep peacock blue, whereas Jenn was dressed in a shimmering silver dress. 

The quartet were obviously having fun as they performed the dance routine that went with the song. Erina and Flory were also dancing, completely oblivious to everything around them except each other.

The next song came on and Arrow noticed that Puck had got up and was beckoning her to come onto the dance floor with him. She rose to her feet and began to walk slowly towards him. She was only a bodylength away when Rachel brushed past her, the action throwing her off balance.

Arrow waved her arms in a desperate attempt to keep her balance, but to no avail. She pitched forward with a squeak of dismay. Puck managed to catch her, but the combined bodyweight and the fact that he had not braced himself, was enough to send them both down on the floor. As they landed their lips met in an unexpected kiss, which both startled and delighted them. 

Somewhat dazed, the two made no attempt to move away, either from the kiss or their position until they heard the sound of clapping and a few giggles.

Arrow looked up to see her friends standing in a circle around the two, all with big grins on their faces. Both she and Puck scrambled to their feet and both were very red.

********************

"Hey, James. I need you to come back to the office with me for a while." James looked up from his table to see his boss Ash standing there.

"You're not going to leave the dance to do some work are you?" James asked. His friend was crazy if he was.

"No, I'm not doing any work. I just need to get something and you're coming with me." The last part of the statement was said not as a request but as a quiet order.

"Aww…do I _have_ to?" James whined. He was having too much fun here.

"Yes." Ash stated in a firm voice. "Otherwise no more bottlecaps for you for the rest of this week."

His assistant's eyes widened and he jumped out of his seat. "Hey, no fair! You play dirty," he grumbled as he followed the younger man to the entrance of the Function Centre.

********************

Drake looked at his partner as they stood on the side of the dance floor. "Do you want to go outside for a while and get some fresh air?" he asked.

Trish nodded her head. "That would be nice."

Drake went over and notified Jenn and Danny of their whereabouts, before the two headed towards the exit.

Stepping outside, the couple walked over to where there was a clear view of the valley below. A slight breeze was blowing sending Trish's long raven tresses tumbling off her shoulders.

"Beautiful view," she said after a few minutes silence.

"It is."

"Wish I had a panoramic camera on me. Would make a nice photo."

Drake grinned. "I know how you could get an even _better _view."

She turned to face him. "Like how?" she questioned with a slight tone of disbelief.

The Pummelo Island Gym Leader said nothing as he unclipped a Pokéball from his belt, expanded and threw it. "Come on out and say hello!" The flash of white light materialised into the shape of his infamous Dragonite. The enormous Pokémon grunted a friendly greeting to his trainer.

Trish's jaw dropped open. "That's some Dragonite," she managed to utter.

"Thank you." Drake turned to his Dragonite. "Would you mind if you took me and my friend here for a short flight over the Plateau?"

The dragon looked at him then at Trish and shook his head. 

"You don't? Good." Dragonite then lay down so they could board him, and gave his trainer a wink.

The dark-haired girl took one step back. "Uh…you're not serious are you?"

"Perfectly serious. Why?"

"We can't be away too long."

"It'll only be ten, fifteen minutes or so," Drake walked up to her.

"And I'm not exactly cool with great heights," Trish muttered. "I'm fine on a Boeing 747. I'm fine flying on Qantas or United - but I'm not sure about a Dragonite."

"You won't fall off. I'll be behind you. It will be perfectly safe."

"Yeah..that's what's they said with the _Titanic_." She still didn't look convinced.

"Trust me on this," he said softly.

Trish stared at him, took a deep breath, then nodded. "Okay."

Drake led her over to Dragon and helped her on, before taking his place behind her and slipping his arms around her to hold onto Dragonite's neck. "Okay, let's go then."

The Pokémon rose and then ran before taking off into the air. There was a slight yelp from Trish as they left the ground and she had her eyes tightly shut.

In two minutes, they were soaring above the trees of the Plateau, and Drake could see the twinkling lights of the various buildings in the far distance below.

"You can open your eyes," he told his companion. "We've been in the air for some time now."

Trish cautiously opened one dark brown eye and then the other. She was about to comment when she caught a glimpse of the view. "Wow," she breathed in amazement. "The view's incredible."

"What did I tell you?"

She shifted slightly to face to him with a warm smile. "Thank you." 

"You're welcome."

The dark-haired girl then placed a kiss on his cheek, before she blushed and turned back to the front. Drake smiled to himself as he felt her lean back against him. 

The rest of the flight was spent in silence, just enjoying the view - until Drake indicated to Dragonite that it was time to go back. The Pokémon gradually descended and landed smoothly on the ground.

The two humans alighted and then Drake thanked his Pokémon before recalling it into the Pokéball. He clipped it back on his belt as he walked over to his date.

Trish gave him a hug. "Thank you" she repeated softly.

But Drake didn't release his hold around her waist. "My pleasure." And then before she could say another word he leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. 

She responded by wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. When they broke apart, they smiled at each other. 

"Should we go back inside?"

Trish grinned. "Definitely. Otherwise Jenn will be sending out search parties for us."

******************

"Tell me why I had bring one of _my_ dresses along?" James whined as he waited in Ash's office.

"You'll see," Ash smiled benignly as he relaxed in his office chair. "Just sit down."

James sat down.

"Good. Oh Calliope! If you can hear me at all - you said I could call on you for help. And we need your help NOW!"

James looked puzzled. "Who's Calliope?"

A pinpoint of light appeared over Ash's chair and grew in size and brilliance until the two men could no longer see. When their eyesight returned, there was a beautiful brunette in a sheer blue dress, sitting on Ash's lap.

Ash went red. "This is Calliope. Now do you remember?"

James nodded. "Yes. She's the half-naked fairy you discovered in your room."

Callie smiled and gave Ash a quick kiss on the cheek and waved to James, " Hi James. It's been a while hasn't it?"

"Two years," Ash answered.

Callie hopped to her feet. "I understand that you guys need some help."

"We do."

"I'll be glad to help, but I won't be able to stay very long. You see, I'm in the middle of a job for Queen Titania and Lord Oberon.."

"Doing what?" James wanted to know.

"Looking for two missing Faes, Puck and Florian."

Ash smiled. "I think we just might be able to help you with that."

Callie shot him a questioning look. "What do you mean?"

So the Pokémon Master and James filled her in on what had been happening at the Indigo Plateau, and Ash's suspicion that the cause of it all was the same mischievous sprite that created so much havoc for him two years before.

The fairy sat down on the couch with a sigh. "That sounds like the work of Puck, all right. Mom and Dad should have disciplined him more when he was younger."

The two humans blinked. "You mean to say…." Ash began.

"Yes. Puck's my little brother," Callie smiled ruefully. "As a result, _I'm _always the one that they send to go after him."

"Who's the other guy?" James piped up.

"Florian is our cousin."

"What's it like having Puck as your brother?"

Callie toyed with a chestnut curl. "I love Puck dearly, but a lot of the time he can be the _biggest_ pain in the butt. Especially when I have to chase after him."

"We think they may be at tonight's dance," Ash informed her.

"And we brought you a dress to wear," James added.

The fairy grinned. "That's very sweet of you, but there's no need." She became enveloped in a flash of light and when the glow died down, she was dressed in a glittering burgundy evening gown. 

"How come you didn't do that last time?" 

Callie looked rather sheepish. "I forgot."

James looked at her and then at the dress still on the hanger. "You mean I brought this along for nothing?"

"Sorry."

He shook his head. "That's okay." A gleam came into his green eyes. "But since _you_ don't need it, perhaps _I_ could…"

"James, _no_," Ash interrupted in a stern voice.

"_Please_?"

"NO. And that's _final_."

The ex-Rocket pouted for a minute. "Oh, _Phooey_!"

His boss rolled his eyes. "Come on, we'd better get back to the Function Centre. Bet Puck is going to be shocked when he sees you, Callie."

The young woman walked to the door. "More like shocked and a little scared."

"Why scared?"

"He's always been a little scared of me, " Callie mused as they went into the corridor. "Ever since that time I turned him into a hamster for breaking some of my things….."

*****************

Minutes later, the trio paused outside the entrance to the Function Centre. "Here we are," Ash stated simply.

They walked inside to find the dance still in full swing, as no one had yet shown the slightest inclination to call it quits for the night. 

Callie paused and closed her brown eyes for a minute before speaking. "They're here. And I know exactly where to find them….." She headed towards the dance floor.

******************

Puck was having a ball. Arrow was in his arms as they danced to a soft ballad, and every so often they would share a little kiss. That little "trip" they took earlier in the evening had brought them together. Everything was right in the world……

"Hello, Little Brother," a familiar female voice came from behind him.

Puck spun around and nearly fell over in shock when he saw who it was. His sister was standing there, also in human form, with her hands on her hips and accompanied by two men whom Puck recognised on sight as some of the humans he had messed with, two years ago. "C…Callie?" he spluttered. "What…what are you doing here?"

Callie rolled her eyes. "The usual. Getting _you_ back home."

Arrow stared at the young woman. "Puck, who is this?" she questioned.

"Uh….Arrow, this is my sister Calliope, but most know her as Callie." Puck stumbled over the introductions. "Cal, I'd like you to meet Arrow, who's my...um...girlfriend."

His sister raised an eyebrow, "_Girlfriend_?" 

"You never told me you had a sister," Arrow turned her gaze on her date. "You never told me she was here at the Convention either!"

"I was going to tell you, but it…ah..kinda slipped my mind," Puck mumbled. "Anyway, I wasn't expecting her to show up _here_."

Just then Flory came wandering over, arm in arm with Erina. "Hey, Puck. What's up? You look like you just saw a…" his voice trailed off as he saw the young woman in the burgundy dress. "Callie?"

"Hi, Flory," Callie said warmly. "Your parents have been worried about you. I've come to take you home."

"Home?" Erina stared worriedly at Flory. "What does she mean? And who is she?"

Flory made the introductions and then Callie restated the purpose of her visit. "You have to go home, guys."

"Can't we wait until at least tomorrow morning?" Flory pleaded, his eyes still fixed on Erina.

"Please?" Puck added in his two cents worth and tried the puppy dog look on his sister for added effect.

Callie sighed. "Probably won't be able to until tomorrow anyway. I'll have my hands full reversing all of the spells you've made during your time here."

"Spells?" Arrow repeated. By this time all their friends had started to gather around.

Callie looked at the two boys. "You haven't told them the real situation have you?"

"No," Puck admitted with his head bowed. "But we would have…eventually."

His sister frowned. "I should hope so. These two girls are in love with you guys, and I think it's rather cruel that you weren't honest with them. Because now they'll think they've just been used - and the heartbreak will be even worse than if you had told them from the start."

"What's going on here?" Erina asked in a bewildered voice.

Callie's face softened and she walked over to the two girls and put her arms around their shoulders. "I want you two to listen to me. First of all, I want to say that I'm truly sorry about having to do this. I wish I didn't have to, but you two need to know." She gave them both a gentle squeeze, then walked over to where Puck and Flory stood, looking shamefaced.

"These two young men here, are not who they appear to be. In fact they are not even human. The truth is - they are Faes, otherwise known as Fairies. As am I." With that she raised her right hand and waved it once. Large delicate wings sprouted forth from their backs. A huge gasp and a few screams arose from the large crowd that had gathered. A dark-haired man aged in his mid-thirties pushed his way to the front and began to scribble something in a notebook

Both Arrow and Erina's eyes widened in shock as they witnessed the transformation of the boys they loved. 

Callie continued when the noise quietened down a bit. "We live as subjects of the kingdom ruled by Queen Titania and Lord Oberon. Puck is one of the favourites of Oberon. We are immortal and not human; therefore making it impossible for any romantic relationship between a human and a fairy to succeed. Our laws are against it as well."

When she had finished, Ash glanced around at the staring spectators. "Continue what you were doing before," he ordered. "Give these people some space while they sort things out. Move it!"

As the crowd started to disperse, Flory took a few steps towards a pale Erina. "Riny…" he began. The petite girl swayed for a minute and looked like she would pass out. But she steadied herself and looked at the dark-haired Fae with glistening eyes. "How could you?" she whispered. "I thought you cared."

"I do," Flory said feeling like the lowest form of life on Earth.

"Well, it's obvious that you don't feel the same way about me, like I do for you," she choked out. "I _love_ you - but if you really cared you would have told me the truth." She turned and fled from the room. Karlie rushed after her, dragging a hapless Tracey along with her.

Arrow just stared at Puck, wide-eyed and a bit dazed. "You're a Fairy," she said.

"Uh, yeah," Puck mumbled as he stared down at his feet.

"Were you the one who made the globe of the world suddenly appear in my hand?"

"Yes. I wanted to give you the world."

Arrow engulfed him in a huge hug. "Thank you so much for that - it was really sweet. No one's ever given me the world before."

Puck stepped back. "You're not mad? You're not revolted by my real self?"

She shrugged. "No, not really. I've always said that what a person looks like is not important. It's their personality that counts. I've had so much fun these last few days. Plus I've always believed in the existence of fairies - just never expected to fall in love with one." She grinned. "I suppose I really should have known you were a fairy when you told me your name."

Puck sighed in relief. Ash, Misty, Callie, Brock, Jessie, James and a dark-haired man whom he had never seen before came up to them, after having a quiet discussion in the corner.

"We've managed to persuade Callie to let you guys stay here until the end of the Convention," the Pokémon Master announced with a smile. He indicated the man standing beside Jessie. "For one thing, Mr. William Shakespeare here, is having too much fun to go back home yet. Plus he wants to see if he can get some more ideas for future plays."

"And secondly, I could really do with you three Fairies' help to ensure that the last day of this Convention is going to be one that people are not likely to forget!"

*******************

__

The next evening…..

Bill Shakespeare whistled cheerily as he walked along the brightly lit boulevard. He had excused himself from the festivities early to return to his room and get some more writing done. His notebook was half filled with quotes, ideas and storylines for his future projects. He was passing by the _Chateau Plateau_ when he spotted a bench near a large tree. He sat down and decided to gaze at the stars for a while for inspiration. A few minutes later, the figure of a young man walked up to stand and stare at one of the balconies of the hotel. He did not see Bill sitting there a few metres away as he was hidden from view by the tree. Bill decided to see what would happen.

********************

Erina brushed her long hair out as she stood at the mirror, and sighed for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. How could a relationship that seemed to be so _right_ - turn out to be so _wrong_? So complicated?

Flory was the perfect guy who had swept her off her feet. Sweet, funny, thoughtful, intelligent, romantic - and interested in _her_. Everything she could ever want, wrapped up in the form of a handsome young man. It was not quite love at first sight - but very close to it. Erina loved everything about him - his voice, the twinkle in his dark eyes, the feel of his lips on hers….

Yesterday, it had all changed. Flory was not whom he appeared to be. Flory, her Flory was a _Fae, _an immortal. He was not a real human at all! And Calliope, the fairy who had brought the shattering news, had said that it was impossible to for a human and a fairy to love each other.

She had been devastated and felt a little betrayed. Why didn't he tell her? Didn't he trust her? So she had run from him, and had spent the whole day trying to avoid him. Her friends had insisted she attend the dance tonight, it might help cheer her up. If anything she felt even worse, and had left early. It all felt so flat, so dull, so lifeless…so wrong without Flory.

Tears came to her eyes. Who was she trying to kid? She loved him no matter what. Where he came from, and the circumstances of his birth did not matter to her. And she was certain that he felt the same way about her. If only there was a way they could be together….

Flory, once again in human form, wiped away a tear as he looked up at the balcony of the room where he knew Erina was staying. He wished that she hadn't found out the truth about him in the way she had. He _would_ have told her - as he never ever wanted to hurt the girl he loved. If only she would see him one more time, so he could at least apologise.

Suddenly the curtains were opened, and light shone through the glass doors. "But soft! What light from yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Erina is the Sun. Arise, fair Sun, and kill the envious Moon. Who is already sick and pale with grief. That thou her maid art far more fair than she," Flory whispered, as his heartbeat quickened in anticipation.

Erina came out onto the balcony for some fresh air. A gentle breeze was blowing which gently ruffled her hair as well as the chiffon folds of her white evening gown. She rested both arms on the railing, and smiled a bit as she realised that her situation was not unlike another pair of star-crossed lovers. The words came easily enough to mind, and she decided to make it her own. The young girl gazed up at the stars and began to speak.

"O Floriano, Floriano! Wherefore art thou Floriano? Deny thy father and refuse thy name. Or if thou wilt not, be but sworn my love. And I'll no longer be a Lawless."

Flory nearly melted. She still wanted to see him. And despite all the deception - she still loved him.

Erina turned to go back inside when she heard a most welcome voice. "Erina." She turned and her hand flew up to her mouth when she saw Flory standing on the balcony.

He handed her a red rose. "Listen, Riny," he began quickly, afraid of her reaction. "I want to apologise for everything, for lying to you about who I really was. I...I never meant to hurt you. I love you too much for that." He got no further for the brunette had cut him off, and he found his mouth doing…other things.

They broke apart for air. "I forgive you for everything, Flory. The important thing is that I know how you really feel." Her grey-green eyes sparkled in the moonlight as she kissed him again. "Stay."

__

To be continued…..

Author's Note: _That was **my **version of the infamous balcony scene from "Romeo & Juliet." Only I call this - "Floriano & Rinyet". ^_^ Hehe…Two more chapters to go……_

Next Chapter - Someone is going to have to make a big decision, and I'm not saying who…:P 

__

For those of you who care, there will be a sequel. 

Well my family has undergone a little baby boom in the last few months. My sister's baby was born on the 22nd May and my sister-in-law's baby was born on the 26th of July. Welcome to the world…Kathryn and Peter. ^-^

It has also come to my attention that some people believe that Puck is the creation of "Gargoyles". I want to set the record straight. THEY borrowed Puck from "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616). Puck is also known as "Robin Goodfellow" in Shakespeare's play. **That** is where I borrowed Puck from - though with my own characterisation. I have never seen the cartoon of "Gargoyles" - but I only hope that they mentioned that they did **not** create Puck, Lord Oberon and Queen Titania. Otherwise that is plagiarism which is unfair and illegal. Credit should go where credit is due. 

Flamers fed to my Tassie Devils. 


	12. Chapter Eleven: Perchance To Dream

MidsummerDreams11 __

Midsummer Dreams

By Trish.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, William Shakespeare or Puck. His characterisation is completely my own creation. I do own Calliope, Florian and the storyline.

__

A/N: This chapter is dedicated in loving memory of my grandmother who passed away on the 14th August, 2001. Thank you for everything you have done for me. And thank you for encouraging us to use our imaginations for ordinary things. Thank you for teaching us that the imagination is a powerful tool - and the magic and wonder it can create when put into words. _I'll never forget you._

__

Chapter Eleven: Perchance to Dream….

Callie pushed a strand of wavy chestnut hair behind her ears as she waited with Puck and Flory in the Grass Field. Ash and James were on their way with all the known 'victims' of any on-going spells that the two had cast. They had been given a list compiled from Callie's interrogation of her relatives yesterday.

She straightened the outfit she was wearing, a blue crop top over white capri pants. The two boys were dressed in shorts and t-shirts. The trio looked like any other human beings…except for the large, translucent wings that grew from their backs.

Soon a largish crowd came toward them and they could see Ash and James leading in the front. Callie sighed and glared at her brother. "Here we go again, fixing up _your _mistakes."

Puck gave a sheepish and endearing grin in reply, which caused his sister's shoulders to slump in defeat. She continued on, this time with a smile. "And _why _is it that I can't stay mad at you for very long? Nobody can - Mom or Dad, Lord Oberon or Queen Titania. How do you do it?"

Her brother shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just a lovable klutz?"

Callie smirked. "The klutz part is right."

The crowd of humans came to a halt a few feet in front of them. The Pokémon Master released a Muk from a pokéball before he and James walked over to the trio of sprites. "Everyone's here," James stated cheerfully.

Flory looked over the assembled crowd and then at Ash. "Shouldn't you and all those baby Pokémon be standing over there too? I did cast that spell that made you adopt them all."

The dark-haired Master laughed and shook his head. "No. Because those babies are staying with me no matter what. They've become part of the family."

"_Pichu_!" came a tiny but indignant voice from one of the pockets on his jacket.

Ash grinned and looked down at the pocket. "You're part of the family too, Poppy," he soothed.

"Who's Poppy?" Puck asked.

In answer, two black-tipped yellow ears rose from the pocket, and the little fur ball regarded them with two big brown eyes. "_Pichu_" she chirped in greeting.

"This is Poppy," Ash introduced. "One of Pikachu's babies, and the only one who has made a habit of sneaking into my jacket pockets all the time."

Pikachu started to scold her daughter from her position on Ash's shoulders, but Poppy just smiled impishly.

"A Pichu in a Pocket," James added.

"That's right," Ash said. "Now I have, quite literally, a Pocket Monster."

James groaned. "Bad joke."

"Sorry."

Callie stepped forward to face the crowd and began the incantation. "Spirits of the Earth and of the Sun. Grant me this wish - that all the spells cast here shall now be undone." She waved her hand and the group became surrounded by a whirlwind of sparkles for a few minutes. When it had disappeared, Ash and James saw that Rudy was now back to his human form, and the rest of the people were all shaking their heads and blinking. The quintet approached them.

Daisy blinked and looked down at her business suit. "Like, what am I doing in this outfit? This is like _totally_ unfashionable."

Ash smiled. "So Daisy, what's a good reason for choosing Water Pokémon over any other element?"

The eldest Sensational Sister shrugged. "Because they're like, cute?"

"She's back to normal," James whispered to his boss, as Gary wandered over to join them.

Their attention then turned to the young woman standing next to her, Misty. "Hey, Mist," Ash greeted his girlfriend with a kiss. He stepped back a bit and eyed her up and down critically. "Looking rather scrawny today, Misty."

Misty frowned. "What did you just call me?" she asked in a low voice.

Ash smirked. "Scrawny."

"Real scrawny," James added happily.

"A stick," Gary chipped in.

The red-head whipped out her mallet ready to pound the living daylights out of them when she noticed they were not cowering in fear as usual - but instead grinning like Cheshire Cats.

"Uh, uh, uh" Ash said with a wave of his finger. "Remember your solemn promise?" 

Misty lowered her mallet in confusion. "What promise?" she asked puzzled.

"You promised to never use your mallet against us or excessive physical violence."

"And Meowth has it all on tape!" the scratch cat purred happily by the Pokémon Master's feet.

Ash stared at the Pokémon. "You do?"

"Yup."

"Well, I hope that you don't have it anywhere on you, Meowth," James spoke up as he eyed a seething red-head.

"Nope. It's in a safe place where she can't get to it."

"Where's that?" Ash questioned.

"Ya know how I gave ya that tape to put into one of da secret safes?"

"Oh." The dark-haired trainer grinned. "I'd hug you, Meowth but I think we'd better start running."

"I agree," James piped up as he, Ash, Gary, Pikachu and Meowth started edging away.

"She's back to normal. You happy Ash?" Gary asked with a grin.

"I am. But at least we have the perfect blackmail weapon," Ash hollered as the quintet took off, pursued by a furious Misty.

Daisy shook her blond head as she watched the group tear around the Grass Field, laughing and taunting her youngest sister, and giving every indication that they were enjoying every single minute of it. "Now that is freaky," she remarked to no one in particular, "I've never seen a bunch of guys, like _so happy_ at the prospect of being totally clobbered by Misty."

Brock smiled at the antics of his friends but he had a more important matter to take care of. He turned to the Kumquat Gym leader standing beside him. "So Luana, are we still getting married?" he asked lightly.

The older woman blinked and laughed merrily. "You're a very nice young man, but I don't think so. I'm looking for someone who's more around my age."

__

Phew, Brock thought silently. Now he was free to pursue the lovely Daisy Waterflower, Nurse Joy, Officer Jenny or Veronica…..

****************

An hour later, Erin was sitting in the park, aimlessly doodling on her notepad when a hesitant voice interrupted her. "Hi there."

She looked up to see Callie standing a foot away. "Hi," she replied with a small smile. "Have a seat."

The Fae sat down next to her on the bench and Erina noticed that she had assumed full human form, with no sign of her wings anywhere. Callie noticed her staring and grinned. "It's better if I don't have them while I'm here. Then people won't stare at me like I'm some creature from outer space." She paused for a minute. "I'm sorry for the other night."

Erina shrugged. "It's okay. It wasn't your fault that Flory didn't tell me the truth." She paused before she blurted out the question that had been on her mind ever since she had found out that Flory was a Fae. "Tell me, is there any possible way that we can stay together? Any way at all?"

Callie furrowed her brows as she thought for a moment. Finally she spoke up. "There _is_ a way…but you're going to have to think long and hard about it. There must be no doubt whatsoever in your mind when you agree to make this decision. And I'll have to speak to Queen Titania and Lord Oberon about it."

Erin listened attentively as the Fae described the details of what she would have to do.

*********************

Elsewhere on the Plateau, Florian was sitting at the lookout gazing at the peaceful green valley below, his thoughts in turmoil. In a few days he would have to go back home with Callie and Puck to the Fae World where he came from.

As a result of Puck's constant pranks he had often been whisked off to other worlds, and he had had no problems with the fact that one day he would have to leave. But this time was different. This time he had fallen in love.

He had never thought it possible that he'd fall for a mortal girl. But he had - hard and fast. And he didn't want to leave her.

He had no choice but to leave……

'_Pipikachu!_' He was interrupted by a small pudgy fur ball leaping onto his lap. He looked down to see a Pikachu which grinned and gave a peace sign. He looked up to see the Pokémon Grand Master walking towards him and gave a small wave. 

Ash sat down next to him, "Great view out here isn't it?"

Flory nodded. "It is. A great place to think too." He glanced at the man next to him. "How come you weren't freaked to find out that we were Faes?"

"I had the 'pleasure' of making your cousins' acquaintances two years ago," Ash explained. 

"Oh. Tell me something ," the Fae asked. "You've probably had to make some major decisions in your life. What do you do when your head says one thing and your heart says another?"

The Pokémon Master grinned rather ruefully. "I don't know whether I'm the best person to ask about that. Because if you asked my friends - _they_ would say that I don't even _think_ before making a major decision. Especially when it comes to life-threatening situations. I usually just rush in regardless of the consequences….I suppose you could say that I follow my heart not my head. Admittedly not always the wisest thing to do."

Ash patted Flory on the shoulder. "Pikachu and I'll leave you alone now. But I'll give you this one piece of advice by this writer which has always helped me."

"And that is…"

Ash stood up and Pikachu scrambled up to her accustomed perch on his shoulder. "It's from the play _Hamlet_ by William Shakespeare. Act 1, Scene 3. 'This above all. To thine own self be true," he quoted with a smile before wandering off.

Flory returned his gaze to the scenery. He decided that he was going to go home…..

****************

__

Later that evening…

"Gary nervously straightened his bow tie before knocking on the hotel door. It opened to reveal Jenn all ready to go, dressed in an off the shoulder, full length gown of deep purple. A delicate shawl of the same colour was draped around her arms. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

"Hi," she said with a warm smile which sent his heart into palpitations. "Ready to go to the dance?"

"Sure," Gary managed to blurt out. At times like this, he found it hard to believe that this lovely young woman was his date. Actually she was more than just his date - more like his girlfriend. But as of yet he hadn't officially told her his feelings or asked her to be his girlfriend. He hadn't even kissed her yet. But the chestnut-haired Trainer was going to change all that…tonight.

"Where's Trish?" he began to say, looking behind her for the whereabouts of her room mate.

Jenn smiled. "She left about twenty minutes ago. Chuchino rang her at the last minute asking if she could do an Egg Patrol before the dance tonight."

"Bet that didn't make her too happy."

"Oh, she only grumbled for a bit, then rang up Drake to tell him to come by earlier so that he can help kick some Egg butt." Jenn giggled. "So they're out both out there stalking Eggs in their formal clothes. I told her as she left that she was literally 'dressed to kill'. 

Gary grinned at the mental image. He had asked Trish before for information on what Jenn liked and she had told him with a smile that if he did anything to hurt Jenn - she would happily beat him up.

A mild breeze blew as the couple walked along in the twilight, when Jenn broke the silence. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," Gary said with a wink as he led her to the foot of a tall white tower that stood on the Plateau. He fished a key from his pocket and opened the door and bade her enter.

"Why are we going up here?" she asked as they began to walk up the long spiral stairs.

"It gives a great view of the Plateau and the surrounding countryside," he informed her. "Only the Grand Master, the Elite Four, the Heads of the Indigo, Orange and Johto Leagues, and Pokémon Masters have access to this tower."

"Oh."

Minutes later, they stepped out onto the viewing platform. The sun was setting and the sky was various hues of dusky pink.

"The reason why we're here," Gary stated, "is because you told me how much you love that scene from _Titanic_."

Jenn's eyes widened.

"So….I know this is no boat, but this is the best I can do for you up here on the Plateau," the chestnut-haired young man finished with a smile.

Jenn hesitated a moment before she walked up to the railing and put her feet gingerly on the lowest bar and stepped up. Gary's arms then wrapped around her waist from behind and held her tightly to him. She took a nervous breath and closed her eyes then slowly raised her arms out to the side. 

She felt the wind blowing through her hair and it did feel like she was flying. But she was mostly aware of only one thing, the feeling of Gary's strong arms holding her. It felt good. It felt so right.

"Had enough 'flying'?" she heard him whisper in her ear which sent a little shiver down her spine. She nodded.

He stepped backwards as she got down but did not release his hold on her. A faint blush crept into her cheeks as her gaze locked with his, their faces inches from each other. Gary then pressed his lips to hers in a gentle kiss. Jenn responded by kissing back and wrapping her arms around his neck, the kiss only ending when both felt the need for oxygen.

Gary started to speak but Jenn silenced him with another kiss. This kiss started off soft and went deeper. A few minutes later they were startled to hear a familiar voice call up to them.

"Hey Jenn! Gary!"

They broke apart to see Trish and Drake looking at them from the ground with big grins on their faces. "Are you two coming to the dance or should I tell them you're otherwise occupied?" 

"No we're coming," Jenn called back down to them. "I got my flying scene from _Titanic_!"

"Really?" 

"Really."

Jenn and Gary turned to go when Trish's voice floated cheerily up to them. "At least it wasn't the _car _scene!"

"Oh, Shut up."

******************

The bamboo torches were burning brightly as Puck and Arrow walked in the large open courtyard of the Function Centre. The loudspeakers mounted on the walls carried the sounds of the dance currently in full swing. All in all, Arrow reflected, it had been a wonderful day. Puck had literally, taken her to the moon and back, just like in the song by one of her favourite bands, Savage Garden.

As if on cue, she heard the DJ over the loudspeaker announce that the next song to be played was by that very same band. Puck grinned and drew Arrow to him.

As they swayed to the music, she ran her fingers through his thick dark hair as he sang the words softly in her ear.

__

I'll be your dream, I'll be your wish , I'll be your fantasy….

She smiled and thought to herself how true those words were.

__

I'll be your hope, I'll be your love. Be everything that you need….

From the moment she sat on him by accident, Arrow had known Puck was something special. Though she had been shocked at first to discover his true identity, she had soon got over it. Strange things always happened to her, so falling in love with a Fae was just one of them.

Puck raised his head and gazed straight into her eyes, _I'll love you more with every breath."_

"Truly, madly, deeply," she finished for him before bringing her lips to his in a deep kiss.

*****************

The next morning Callie was waiting in the forest clearing at the appointed time. Right on the dot, two orbs of light appeared before her and grew brighter until she could no longer see.

When the light cleared, Queen Titania and Lord Oberon were standing there in their regal splendour. Titania suddenly gave Oberon a hefty shove which toppled him over the nearest boulder. 

Oberon struggled to a sitting position. "Now what was _that _for!" he snapped.

Titania brushed her long dark locks back and sniffed haughtily. "That was for being a moron before."

"Well stop _shoving_ me and I'll stop being a moron!"

"You can't order me around, _Obie_," she taunted.

"Obie," Oberon muttered. "You _know_ I hate that nickname." A wicked glint came into his eyes. "Two can play at that game, you know.….._Tit_."

"_Don't call me that_!"

"_Ahem_." The two looked up to see Callie standing there. "We have some people to see," she reminded them.

"Sooorry."

En route they were joined by Callie's and Puck's parents as well as Flory's, and they were mainly along to see the world that their sons had spent the past two weeks in.

When they arrived at the meeting room, they were greeted by Puck, Flory and all their friends. The two monarchs took their seats at the front of the room. "Let this meeting begin," Oberon stated.

**************

Flory shuffled his feet as he waited patiently for Puck to finish his speech. Before him were Lord Oberon and Queen Titania, and on either side stood Callie with her and Puck's parents and Flory's family. Behind him were the various human friends he and Puck had made over the last two weeks. Flory was only half-listening. He was about to make one of the hardest decisions in his life, and he hoped that he would have the courage to go through with it.

Puck had apologised for all the mischief he had caused, and that he was the one most to blame as it was his spell that dragged his cousin into it. He was prepared for any punishment that his King and Queen saw fit. Finally it was Flory's turn. He glanced back and caught Erina's eye. His girlfriend looked as though she was about to say something, but he raised his hand to say that she should wait.

"I too want to apologise for all the problems I caused," he began. "And I can't tell you how grateful I am that you humans are so willing to forgive. But that is not the main thing I want to tell you…." He drew a deep breath. "I've decided to stay here with Erina. I want to become mortal."

There was dead silence as everyone gaped in shock at his announcement. Then Erina detached herself from her friends and ran towards him, flinging her arms around him. He swung her around once happily.

Lord Oberon was the first to recover. "Are you serious, Flory? You do know what the consequences of your decision are? And what about your parents?"

Flory smiled. "I am serious. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to make and I've thought long and hard about it. But every time I arrive at the same conclusion - that staying here and becoming human is the right thing for me. I love my family more than life itself. But…" and he glanced down at the teary brunette by his side. "I feel the same way about Riny. I only hope that you will understand."

__

To be continued…..

Author's Note: Sorry for the long delay but a number of things cropped up. First of all FF.Net has been crashing a lot and secondly as I said, my grandmother passed away rather suddenly. Now she was the only grandparent I had left, and I spent the last two years of her life helping to look after her. So it was a shock and I was deeply affected by it - and did not feel like writing at all. Thanks to all my friends out there for supporting me (you know who you all are…) especially Jenn and Mia.

Next chapter is the last in this series. Read and review peoples. If you don't like it why on earth did you bother reading it? Flamers fed to the Tassie Devils as usual….

P.S Just to say that my thoughts and prayers go out to all the victims and their families of the horrendous events of Sept 11th in New York City. All Australians have all been shocked and horrified by the events. Nobody deserves that - every single one of those people was someone's spouse, partner, sibling, friend and neighbour. We must take steps to ensure that the world is a better place for future generations, to not let terrorists win. We can start by teaching our children that we are all one people, all part of the human race. We must teach them not to hate on the basis of race or religion. Admittedly a small step but a step in the right direction.


	13. Chapter Twelve: Time Of Your Life

__

Midsummer Dreams 

By Trish.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or Puck. Puck's characterisation is completely my own. I own Callie, Flory, Poppy and the storyline. Many apologies to William Shakespeare especially for the last bit!

__

A/N: This final chapter is dedicated to three people - Jenn, Mia and Vickie. To say thank you for all their support and inspiration throughout this entire story. Thank you for putting up with my favourite phrase - "This chapter sucks" ^_~ . You know I'm always going to say that…. Theme song for this chapter - "(Good Riddance) Time Of Your Life" by Green Day.

Chapter Twelve: Time Of Your Life

"It's something unpredictable

But in the end is right.

I hope you had the time of your life."

Green Day.

Stunned silence once again filled the room after Flory's last statement, "I hope you will understand." His parents sat down rather abruptly on the nearest chairs, shock and disbelief written all over their features. 

Flory slowly approached his parents arm in arm with Erina, uncertain of his welcome. He would not blame them one bit if they refused to talk to him. After all, his decision had turned their world upside down and effectively split their family apart forever.

"Mom? Dad?" he said softly. His mother, Hermia looked up at him in tears. "I'm sorry. But I have to do this."

His father, Lysander shook his head and smiled weakly. "No need to apologise, Flory. What you decide to do with your life is your decision and yours alone. Your mother and I can only do one of two things - either support you or disown you. And you know that we'd never dream of doing the latter."

Flory smiled with relief. His parents were going to support him no matter what.

"We just hope that you are making the right decision," Hermia spoke up as she wiped her eyes with a tissue. "I guess, also we're trying to understand what is it about this world that prompted you to arrive at this conclusion."

"I _know_ this is the right decision for me, Mom," Flory affirmed. "And as for the other question, the answer is standing right beside me." He gave Erina a gentle squeeze. "There's a saying that 'Home is where the heart is.' As far as I'm concerned, I _am_ home…."

Lysander and Hermia looked at their only son, then at each other and smiled. "Well, then. What are you waiting for?" Lysander joked and pushed his son to stand in front of Lord Oberon and Queen Titania.

Erina waited to the side with his parents as Flory stood before his monarchs.

"Now are you _absolutely_ positive you want this, Florian?" Lord Oberon questioned as he scrutinised the young Fae's face. "Because once this spell takes effect it can _never_ be reversed."

Flory took a deep breath and looked his king straight in the eyes. "I am" he stated in a firm voice.

Oberon began the incantation. "Oh spirits of creation and light. Grant me the powers to change this young life. From Fae to Human he wishes to become. His magical powers to be reduced to none. His decision was made for all the right reasons. Love knows no bounds nor any seasons. Watch over Florian as he assumes a mortal life. Grant him health and happiness for the rest of his life."

Flory was surrounded by a shower of sparkles which gradually dissipated.

"Florian Stratford," Oberon said with a smile. "You are now officially Human."

Before Flory could reply he was engulfed in a family hug by his parents and his younger sister, Bianca. His parents then stepped back a bit and smiled through their tears. "We just want you to know that we're _very_ proud of you, Flory," his father stated. "It takes a huge amount of courage to do what you've just done. Most Faes and humans would not be able to go through with such a decision."

"Thanks," Flory replied. He turned to see Erina standing just off to one side, and gathered her to him in a warm embrace. She sniffled a little into his shirt as he dropped a little kiss on her forehead. When she had regained her composure he led her over to his family. "Erina, I'd like you to meet my parents, Hermia and Lysander. Mom and Dad, this is Erina." 

"Nice to meet you," Erina shook hands with them.

"And this is my little sister Bianca," Flory said indicating a pretty young girl with her brown hair in plaits and dark brown eyes.

Erina offered her hand to Bianca. "Hi there."

Bianca returned the handshake. "So you're gonna be my big sister?" She eyed the human girl up and down. "I guess you'll do." Erina's eyes widened.

"Bianca! Shut up," Flory admonished his sibling as his face reddened.

Puck, Callie and their parents Helena and Demetrius watched from the side as Flory's parents began to engage in conversation with their son's girlfriend.

Callie nudged her brother playfully. "Don't _you_ have someone to introduce to Mom and Dad?"

Puck blushed slightly under his parents' questioning gaze. "Uh yeah. Hey Arrow! Could you come over here please?" he called out to the brunette who was standing with her friends.

Arrow started to make her way over. She was about a foot away when she suddenly tripped and fell with a startled squeak into his arms.

Puck helped her regain her balance before doing the introductions. "Mom, Dad. This is my girlfriend Arrow."

Arrow waved and smiled sheepishly. "Hi there."

Bianca smirked and called out, "Geez, Puck. Trust you to find the mortal equivalent of yourself!"

Arrow glared at the young girl. "Well, _you _little missy aren't exactly the picture of grace either!" she growled.

Bianca just stuck her tongue out in response.

Helena clasped her hands together in delight. "Oh, my little baby boy is growing up so fast! He's found himself a girlfriend. Aww….how sweet!"

"_Mooom_," Puck whined.

"And such a perfect match she is too," his mother continued to gush, oblivious to her son's protests. "She's just as a big a klutz as you are, honey!"

"Mom!"

Demetrius clapped a friendly hand on Puck's shoulders. "Well done m'boy. You've found yourself a real catch. She's a looker and a spirited one too." He grinned at his daughter standing next to him. "Now all we need to do is get Cal here hooked up."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Dad! Now don't you start this matchmaking business!"

Arrow smiled. When it came to parents, there was no difference between the Fae and mortal worlds.

***************

The decision was made to spend the rest of the day sight-seeing as the visitors from the Fae Realm were in no hurry to go home. In fact they had decided to stay until the end of the Convention. For they were even more eager to discover what was so wonderful about this world that made one of their own renounce his birthright.

Besides, as Demetrius had said, it was about time they all had a holiday…..

An hour later the assorted group of Humans, Faes and Pokémon were strolling down the main shopping avenue. They were getting along famously with the exception of Arrow and Bianca who were constantly bickering.

"Oh, this is fun!" Helena trilled happily to her children. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed that two of the older girls in the group had stopped outside a dress boutique. She wandered over. "Are you looking for something?"

"Yeah," Trish answered. "We're looking for a new outfit to wear for…" That was as far as she got. For Helena had raised her hand and uttered a spell, which caused a bright glow to surround both Trish and Jenn.

"Mom! No!" Callie cried out. Too late….

"For work…" Trish finished in dismay as she gazed down at her new attire. Jenn was just speechless. For Fae's are not known for conservative dressing, and both were now wearing the latest in Fae fashions. Their 'dresses' were made of a fine sheer material, had a very high split and left little to the imagination. The two young women went slightly red as a couple of men wolf-whistled in the distance.

"Drake!" Trish hissed at her gawking boyfriend. The Orange Crew Leader snapped out of his stupor and hurried over, removing his vest as he did so. The dark-haired girl took it gratefully and slipped it over her 'outfit', then Drake wrapped his arms around her.

Jenn looked to Gary with the same idea but he was never one for wearing a vest or jacket of any sort. "What am I gonna do?" she wailed.

Ash handed her his sports jacket. "Here you go."

"Thanks, Ash," Jenn said, greatly relieved. She put the jacket on and glared at Gary. "Now why can't you be like that?"

Gary just grinned. "That's our Ashy Boy for you. Sir 'Help-A-Lot' - always going off to help some damsel in distress."

Misty added, "You don't have be a damsel for Ash to help. Anybody or anything can be in distress and he's off like a shot."

Jenn rubbed her arms and eyed Drake's muscular form which was accentuated by the black t-shirt he wore.

"Grrr, Drake. Very grr.." she purred appreciatively.

Drake and Trish just laughed while Gary looked absolutely horrified. "JENN! Since when do you start going after your best friend's boyfriend?? And you're supposed to be _my_ girlfriend!"

Jenn giggled and gave the incensed Trainer a kiss on the lips. "I'm only kidding. You're the only one I'm interested in."

Gary turned to Trish. "Aren't you angry about this?"

The Australian girl smiled. "Relax, Gary. Jenn just likes _looking_ that's all. She's always been like that. There's no harm in looking as long as you don't _touch_."

"Yeah…but.."

A mischievous glint came into Trish's eyes. "Aww…come on Gary. You can't talk. Just the other day I overheard you talking with Drake and saying that you admired the size of Prima's 'melons'."

Gary reddened. "Er….hehe…forgot about that…."

"Talk about a selective memory," the dark-haired girl rolled her eyes. "Callie can we get out of these 'clothes' now please?"

Callie nodded and the two girls handed Drake and Ash back their jackets. Callie evoked the incantation and much to Trish and Jenn's relief they were back to their normal clothes.

Jenn looked at her boyfriend with raised eyebrows. "Melons?!?" 

Gary decided that it was high time the subject was changed. He clapped a hand down on Ash's shoulder. "Saaaaay, Ash. We'd better get going, we have a lot of planning to do before the final dance tonight!"

The Grand Master looked puzzled. "But Gary…that's all been taken care of…" he trailed off when he saw the desperate look in his best friend's eyes. "Ah…you're quite right, we have a lot of planning to do. I..uh… remember telling you that Poppy shredded the plans with her teeth, didn't I….ow!" Ash winced as a little shock emanated from his jacket pocket.

"We sure do. So let's go!" And before anyone could say anything else, Gary dragged his friend off and did not stop until they rounded the corner.

Ash wrested his arm from Gary's grasp. "You would have to drag me into this…," he sighed. 

Pikachu echoed her trainer's sigh with a "_Pikkaaaa_".

Gary shrugged. "Well that's what friends are for right? Sharing."

A small yellow head poked out of Ash's pocket and stared up with angry brown eyes. "_Pichu_!" 

Ash looked down with a smile. "I'm sorry about that lie Poppy…I know you didn't do anything of the sort."

"_Pi."_ The baby sounded miffed.

"Blame your Uncle Gary. He made me do it."

Poppy scrambled out of her trainer's pocket and leapt onto Gary Oak. "_PICHU_!" she squeaked and gave the Viridian Gym Leader a sharp jolt.

"Ouch!" Gary yelped and glared at his friend. "Why did you tell her to do that for?," he demanded.

Ash smirked, "What was it that you said a minute ago Gary? Friendship is all about _sharing_?"

"Oh, Shut up."

**************

Misty watched as the last of the revellers departed from the Ballroom. Now the only ones left were her usual gang of Ash, Brock, Tracey, Gary, Jessie and James. Ash's parents and her sisters were also there, talking to Gary's girlfriend Jenn, Trish and Drake. Listening in to their conversation were Karlie, Veronica, Arrow and Erina. A little off to the left were the Faes - Puck, Flory, Callie, Lord Oberon and Queen Titania etc, all engaged in an animated discussion. Now and then one of them would glance over in Misty's direction and smile for some reason. The young woman gathered that Puck must have said something rather cheeky, as Callie promptly thumped him on the arm. 

Various Pokémon belonging to the assembled group of friends were running around freely. The Cerulean Gym leader noticed that Ash's Bulbasaur and Chikorita had stationed themselves at opposite ends of the dance floor and various other Grass, and some Flying Pokémon had positioned themselves so that the dance floor was ringed by the creatures. She wondered what they were up to. Probably nothing very good.

She smiled as Ash came up to where she was sitting at one of the tables. "The last dance was a real success, wasn't it?"

"It was," the Pokémon Grand Master agreed with a lopsided grin. "But the night is not yet over…."

Misty gave her boyfriend a puzzled look. "What do you mean?" She did not notice Ash give a prearranged signal to Gary who nodded silently. As the dark-haired man led her onto the dance floor she noticed the others went to join the Pokémon around the edges. 

When they came to the centre of the floor, Ash stopped and faced the slender redhead.

"Ash. What are we doing…." Misty began but he silenced her with a finger to her lips, then placed a small box in her hand. She carefully opened it to reveal a beautiful diamond ring glistening on its bed of black velvet.

Misty gasped as joyous tears came to her eyes as the man she had loved since she was ten years old got down on one knee. 

"Remember that sonnet that I recited for you two years ago?" he said seriously. "Love is not love. Which alters when it alteration finds. Or bends with the remover to remove. Oh, no! It is an ever fixed mark. That looks on tempests and is never shaken.' Well, we may have had some rocky moments in our relationship over the years - but I have never stopped loving you." He paused then smiled. "Will you marry me?"

Misty managed to squeak out a "Yes" and the next minute she was in his arms, in a passionate kiss. They barely noticed the loud cheers coming from their friends around the dance floor. They broke apart and Ash slipped the ring on her left hand and gave a thumbs up to Brock. That was the cue for him to go over to the DJ's section and slip in a certain CD. 

Ash grinned at his now fianceé and bowed formally, "Shall we dance?". As the soft strains of "_When I Fall In Love_" began to play over the speakers the couple began to dance. The Flying Pokémon then created a gentle breeze into which their Grass compatriots fired leaves and flower petals. The Faes sent showers of sparkles which, combined with the leaves and petals floating around the pair - made a truly magical effect.

Meowth and Pikachu stood side by side, both bawling with happiness. "_I always knew that Pikapi and Pikachupi were meant to get married," _the electric mouse sniffled.

"Yeah," the Scratch Cat agreed wiping his face with his paw. "It's about bloody time too!"

******************

__

The next night….

Arrow walked out onto the balcony of her hotel room and leaned on the railing. If there was ever a time when she wished that tomorrow would never come it was now. For tomorrow Puck would have to leave her and there was no way of knowing if and when he would be coming back.

Puck…there was no guy like him in the entire world. No one else could make her feel special like he did, and no one was more understanding of what it was like to be a natural klutz. No one else was so perfect for her….

She felt like crying at the thought of him leaving, but that was such an un-Arrow thing for her to do so she didn't. She would keep up a stoic front and no one would know that inside she was grieving.

Her friends would be there for her, but not one of them would be able to understand what she was going through. While they did have their problems with long distance relationships, at least they'd still be able to keep in touch. Puck was going to another world, another dimension - and technology had not extended that far yet.

Erina might have been the one that understood best. However, since Flory had renounced his Fae-hood, she now had a 'normal' boyfriend like the others.

Arrow gazed up at the sky. "Give me my Puck; and, when he shall die. Take him and cut him out in little stars. And he will make the face of heaven so fine. That all the world will fall in love with night. And pay no worship to the garish sun. Oh, I have bought the mansion of a love. But not possess'd it, and, though I am sold. Not yet enjoy'd."

She had only gone back inside for a few minutes when she heard a yelp of pain come from the balcony and a swear word or two in the ancient language of the Faes. She ran to the door and poked her head around to see Puck standing there rubbing his foot.

He looked at her with a sheepish grin. "I, uh, teleported into the chair."

No sooner had he entered the room than she pulled him into a deep kiss which lasted until both of them ran out of air.

"I thought you were out with Flory," the brunette asked him.

"I was," Puck confirmed. "But I had to see you. And I wanted to give you something to remember me by." 

Arrow's eyes lit up. 

"Close your eyes," he instructed.

She did so and felt something slipped onto her hand. She opened her eyes to find a beautiful silver ring in a delicate and intricate design on her finger. "Oh….it's beautiful…" she breathed.

"That's not all." He then presented to her a long stemmed white rose. "This is the type of roses we have in the Fae World. They're eternal roses which never wilt or die. Finally…" and he produced a small round orb which glowed with a mystical light. 

"What's this?"

Puck grinned. "Well, I gave you the world before so I thought I'd add to your collection by giving you a mini Moon."

Arrow carefully put the gifts to one side before she tackled her boyfriend enthusiastically onto the sofa. "Oh…THANK YOU, THANK YOU!" she squealed while showering him with kisses.

"You're welcome," Puck gasped.

"And there is noooooooo way in the world that I am ever going to forget you. _Ever_!"

"Really?

"Really. Now shut up and kiss me…."

__

***************

Arrow had done as she said, she was putting on her bravest face as the Faes (along with William Shakespeare) prepared to leave. She was not going to cry. Nothing, not even the sympathetic glances of her friends was going to affect her.

Puck walked over to her and wrapped her in a tight embrace. "I promise I'll come back to you, Mia," he whispered into her hair. They shared one last deep passionate kiss, and the pain-filled look in his eyes almost made her break down. "Wait for me?" he asked her seriously.

"Yes."

He walked over to the rest of the Faes, then Oberon and Titania began the incantation. The group were enveloped in a bright light and disappeared. 

It was too much for Arrow. She turned her head and rested it on Trish's shoulder, and the older girl pulled her into a comforting hug.

Erina wrapped her arms around Flory as he bit his lower lip and stared at the spot where his family had been. He fought back tears and hugged her even tighter, grateful for her support.

Later that night, a restless Arrow went walking in the hotel gardens. She had declined her friends' invitation to join them for one last gathering before they all had to depart in the morning. She didn't think that she would be able to handle seeing all of the couples together, it would only make her feel worse….

She rounded the corner and was startled to see Flory sitting on a garden bench, gazing up at the night sky. "Flory," she called out softly. "What are you doing out here by yourself? I thought you would be with Riny…."

The former Fae smiled and motioned for her to sit down. "For the same reason you're probably out here…I just needed some time to myself after what happened."

"You're not having second thoughts are you?"

Flory chuckled. "It's a bit too late for that," he said dryly. "No….I know I made the right decision. It's just that it will take some time getting used to being a human."

"You'll be just fine."

"Thanks." He paused and then looked wistfully up at the stars. "And it's going to be hard not seeing my family again or Callie and Puck…"

"Why did Puck have to go back?" Arrow asked. "I know he explained that Oberon needed him, but I need him too.."

"Puck's always been Lord Oberon's right-hand Fae. He may be a klutz but he's really very good and loyal. Oberon's come to depend on him a lot," Flory explained. "I think Oberon's heard these rumours that someone may be trying to stir up trouble against him, so he needs Puck there."

Arrow nodded and Flory noticed that her eyes glistened with unshed tears. He fished a cassette tape out of his pocket and handed it to her. "Oh, almost forgot. He asked me to give you this…"

She took it with a sad smile. "Thanks…"

He patted her hand reassuringly. "If Puck said he'd come back to you, he will. I've never known him to break a promise, ever."

*****************

__

At the Indigo Plateau International Airport the next day…

Arrow clutched her backpack as she waited in the departure lounge with her friends. Some of them had already boarded their flights, Erina and Flory had left as well as Karlie and Tracey. She chuckled at the memory of Kaz dragging a semi-reluctant Tracey through the gates. They were still handcuffed as Kaz couldn't find the key to unlock them - the only spare key she had was at her home in England. Arrow suspected that Tracey didn't really mind going home with Kaz, he just didn't want to admit it yet….

She cast her mind back to the events of the last two weeks. It had been fun, the most enjoyable two weeks of her life so far. Spending time with her friends, the whole Musical Beds fiasco with Riny ending up with Rudy, Rudy turning into a Muk, Brock's crestfallen face at the news that Cerulean had beaten Pewter in their little competition…..and most of all Puck.

"Ready to go?" Trish's voice broke into her thoughts. Arrow looked up and nodded. She was going to spend the rest of her summer holidays with Trish in Sydney. She was looking forward to it and from the mischievous glint in her friend's eyes she was willing to bet that there would be plenty of things in store to help take her mind off Puck's absence.

"Ready and raring to go," she piped up. "Watch out Sydney - here I come!"

Trish chuckled. "Luckily I forewarned everybody so there should be a mass exodus from the city about now…"

Arrow stuck her tongue out at her friend. "Triiiiiiiiiiiiish. You're _mean_," she whined.

The older girl just grinned. "Come on."

Once on the plane, Arrow settled back in her seat beside Trish and closed her eyes. Puck _would _be coming back one day, of that she was certain. And all she needed to do to remember him was to close her eyes and dream - the dreams of this Midsummer…..

****************

__

Epilogue: Puck walks out onto the fanfic stage and a lone spotlight shines down…

If we shadows have offended

Think but this and all is mended

That you have but slumber'd here

While this work of fanfiction did appear.

And this witty and loopy theme

No more yielding than a dream.

Gentles do not reprehend

If you will pardon, we will mend.

And, as I am an honest Puck…FLORY STOP LAUGHING!

If we have unearned luck

Now to 'scape the author's wrath

We will make amends ere long….with a sequel!

Else the Puck a liar call……Flory I'm _warning you_!

So, good night unto you all.

Give me your reviews if we be friends:

(Flory shoves Puck out of the way) And _FLORY _shall restore amends!

That's _it_ Flory, c'mere!

(scuffling noises break out….curtain falls on the scene)

__

The End.

Teaser: (Written by Mia)

The leaves on the tall Palm trees shuddered in fear as the invisible light streamed past them. To ordinary observers it was just a normal wind casting itself on the Orange Islands, but to the trained eye they could tell the trees were moving in order....like something was moving them.....like something was hopping from tree to tree.

The sky ripped violently apart, leaving black dusty blood behind. Out of the wound came a sinister figure jeering at the small Island shore. His dark green eyes set off a dirty face that was scrunched up. "I....sense _Fae_" he hissed. His wild red hair took no notice to the beating wind. Suddenly he noticed a group of figures heading towards the beach...a small smile crawled over his face as he spotted one person in particular and delved into her psyche. His eyes lit up with a torturous flame that it would burn you and he smiled looking at the green eyed girl. "I sense..._Puck_".

------Midsummer Nights....coming soon

__

Author's Note: 'Good night unto you all…' Truer words have never been spoken as this marks the end of "Midsummer Dreams". And today November 21st (hey I live in Australia we're one day ahead) marks my one year anniversary of being at FF.Net. What better way to mark the occasion than with a piece of my own work? And in 12 more days it will be my 27th birthday on December 3rd…Feel free to donate any fics (grins)

I thought the theme song for this Chapter "(Good Riddance) Time of Your Life" was rather apt for it embodies all the emotions I have felt while writing this series. It's been quite a roller coaster ride - I've felt like trashing it at times, I've worried that it just doesn't work. But it's also been heaps of fun - and it seems to have worked out. 

As threatened I will be back with a sequel. Ash & Co, Puck, Flory, Callie and Poppy will be back - as will all the authors who appeared in Midsummer Dreams. Plus there will be some new authors who will appear - as will a brand new original character……

If anything I hope that you take away some appreciation for Shakespeare…take a closer look at his writings….

"I hope you had the time of your life." I certainly did in writing this.

Good night unto you all until we meet again….

__


End file.
